Resurrection
by AsgardainAvenger
Summary: They thought he was dead. Thor watched him die. He thought he was dead, too, but he was alive. Barely, but alive. How was it possible when his neck was shattered? The question remains; how is it that he is alive? And how is he going to stop Thanos? (Spoilers for Infinity War) (Mildly graphic violence, some mild language, and dark-ish themes)
1. Part One: Big Trouble in Little Valhalla

**I'm still shook from Avengers Infinity War, as I'm sure everyone is. I'm heartbroken from many scenes from the movie. I hope that** _Ant-Man and the Wasp_ **is less depressing. I didn't like how little screen time Loki got and I didn't want him to be dead, so I wrote this. I wrote this on my phone, so there may be some errors. I appreciate every review. Some scenes aren't word for word from the movie and may be a little different. Read and review! :)**

 **All rights go to Marvel. Spoilers and possible feels.**

 **Resurrection**

 **Part One: Big Trouble In Little Valhalla**

It happened too fast for them to process it. One moment the brothers were enjoying peace and quiet, and the next the ship was being attacked.

Thor was the first one to realize that the ship was taking fire. He pushed his little brother to the side before a blast of fire hit where they were just standing, seconds after they moved.

Loki slid on the ground and came to a stop against the charred wall. Thor was kneeling protectively on top of him. "What the Helheim?!" Loki shouted. Thor's face was inches from his, his breath hot and slightly panicked.

"Warn the others. I'll hold them off," Thor said and made to stand up, but Loki grabbed hold of his collar and pulled him back down.

"Don't you dare," Loki said firmly.

"Loki, we're under attack. I'm protecting the ship," Thor argued.

"And you'll get yourself killed in the process!" Loki exclaimed.

"No I won't. I've taken down the Hulk. I can handle this."

"No, you can't. I know who they are. We're doomed unless we find a way to escape."

"I'm not running like a coward," Thor spat and tried to stand up again, but Loki's grip on his armour wasn't moving. Thor glared down at his brother. Loki's face was a mixture of fear and determination.

"I'm not going to let you do this. We'll leave together. We'll warn the others and hope that we make it out alive. It'll be better if we stick together. You remember last time?" Loki asked.

Thor remembered clearly. He was escaping on this ship with the citizens of Asgard. He watched as Surtur destroyed his home. Loki had started Ragnarök. Everybody else was fine, except Loki. Apparently, Loki was stuck on Asgard, his own ship crushed by fallen beams. Loki, himself, was pinned beneath a pile of rubble. The fire was so intense for a Frost Giant, that Loki passed out. He told Thor later that his magic saved him from being disintegrated with Asgard, but Loki didn't mention the fact that he had the Tesseract and his magic triggered it; causing him to be teleported onto Thor's ship.

"I know, but-"

Thor's reply was cut short by another blast of fire. Thor took the brute of it, shielding Loki from the flames.

Loki pulled Thor behind a wall once the flames died down. Thor's hair was singed, along with the back of his armour. "Are you alright?" Loki asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Thor said and ran a hand through his burned hair, shaking out the soot. "You said you knew these people."

Loki gulped. Suddenly it was hard to meet Thor's gaze. "Loki."

Loki took breath of smoky air and coughed. Another jet of fire blasted through before he could answer. Thor grabbed Loki's wrist and tugged him forward, away from the heat. "Explain on the run. We have to warn the others now!"

Loki ran after Thor, taking only a second to look behind him. Where the viewing window was supposed to be, only stood a few small panes of glass. The floor was covered in shards of glass and pieces of metal from the walls. The whole area of was full of burn marks and small patches of fire. The vacuum of space from the hole was hard to run against. Each step felt like he was running in glue with weights attached to his boots.

Loki slipped on a large shard of glass. The vacuum threatened to pull Loki out into space, but Thor grabbed hold of Loki's hand and yanked him back. The air was definitely getting thinner. What wasn't being sucked out into the cosmos was full of smoke and soot. Thor and Loki could breathe in space, but it wasn't enjoyable. They tried to avoid it at all costs, since it takes a number on their lungs.

With help from Thor, Loki managed to escape the vacuum's clutches and close a door, stopping it from having more things pulled out of the ship. Bruce, Heimdall, and Valkyrie weren't that far away, but the run to the makeshift throne room seemed to take forever. Eventually the two found their way to the throne room. Nobody was in there but Korg and Miek. They were doing some sort of martial arts/dancing routine.

"Hi there!" Korg said happily. It was hard to find Korg when he wasn't in a good mood.

"Korg! Where's Heimdall?" Thor asked.

"The creepy, seer guy?" Korg asked.

"Yes. Where is he?" Thor was getting worried.

"Off somewhere in the ship," Korg answered. Miek chittered his own response.

"Oh, that's helpful," Loki stated sourly. "It's important. The ship has taken fire. We're under attack. Where is Heimdall?"

Miek stopped his kick aimed at Korg's leg. "Oh!" Korg blinked. "Did they print enough pamphlets? If they don't have pamphlets, then their attack isn't official."

"Shut up about the pamphlets, Korg!" Thor shouted. Korg was sweet but his happiness sometimes got really annoying, especially if the whole ship was in danger.

"There's no need for pamphlets." The four turned to see that Heimdall, Bruce, and Valkyrie showed up.

"I saw this was going to happen," Heimdall said. "But it was foggy and I was unsure about the future. I'm sorry, Thor. I should have warned you before hand."

"Its fine. All we need to do is hold them off," Thor replied. "Korg, Miek, go gather all warriors or anyone willing to fight." Korg and Miek nodded and dashed out of the room.

"Loki, you said you knew who they were. Is there a way to stop them?" Thor asked.

"Not that I know of. They're fierce and really hard to kill," Loki answered.

"Wait. What are we talking about?" Bruce piped up. He had to turn back to human since the Hulk took up too much space and ate most of their food supplies.

"T-The Black Order. T-Thanos' kids," Loki stuttered.

"The people who tortured you?! They're here?! Why?" Bruce was turning a little green.

"I don't know," Loki lied, but the others bought it. He knew why they were here, but he wasn't going to blow his cover.

"I thought they wanted the Infinity Stones. Will Thanos come himself?" Thor questioned.

"I don't know," Loki answered.

"We don't have any Infinity Stones," Valkyrie pointed out.

"Maybe they're coming to take Loki," Bruce added.

Thor took a step closer to his brother. "Well, I'm not going to allow that. Nobody's hurting my brother. If they want him, they have to go through me!" Thor exclaimed.

"Thor. If the lives of the citizens depends on my life, do me a favor; don't stop them from taking me," Loki said quietly.

Thor stared at his brother in shock. "I won't let them take you."

"I can handle it. If its me they want, they should leave everybody else alone."

"You're my brother!"

"Is one life of a criminal worth more than hundreds of innocent people?!"

"You're not a criminal, Loki. What Thanos made you do, it wasn't your fault. You had no control over your mind, let alone your actions. Stop beating yourself up over the New York Incident!"

"Thor," Loki muttered.

Thor shook his head stubbornly. "No, let me finish. You're a good person. Its not your-"

"Thor!" Loki said a little louder. Thor stopped talking immediately to glare at Loki.

"What?" Thor asked angrily.

"Something's wrong. Its too quiet-"

Suddenly, a large explosion shook the whole ship. The group was thrown off balance by the blast. Bruce hit his head and landed behind the throne, out of sight of the figures who were entering the room with such an air of confidence like they owned the place.

"Rejoice! You are saved by the Children of Thanos!" a figure in black with short, gray hair called out above the roar of flames.

Thor, who was getting back on his feet, scoffed. "I doubt we're saved," Thor whispered to Loki. Too the intruders, Thor said: "Who are you and what do you want?"

"We are the Children of Thanos. The Black Order. Behold! Our father!" the same figure announced. The intruders stepped to the side and bowed as a large form appeared and stepped into the light. He was a bit bigger than the Hulk, and an ugly shade of purple. He was wearing dark blue and gold armour. A helmet of gold covered his bald head and a golden glove with a single, glowing, purple stone embedded in it was on his left hand. His face was covered in scars and his chin looked like it got stuck halfway in a paper shredder.

Thor heard Loki gasp. He glanced over and saw that Loki was shaking violently. He rested a reassuring hand on his back, but it didn't help calm Loki's nerves. "Its alright. I won't let him hurt you," Thor whispered gently.

Loki didn't respond. Valkyrie and Heimdall were already standing, their weapons drawn. Korg and Miek burst into the room followed by at least half the remaining Asgardian population. "This fight has come to an end!" Korg shouted, but stopped short once he saw Thanos. Miek squeaked nervously.

Thor helped Loki stand up. Loki's legs were shaking so badly that he had to lean against Thor to stay upright. Bruce was still behind the throne, but neither Thanos nor the Black Order knew he was there.

Thor opened his mouth to let everyone attack when Loki clamped a hand over his mouth. "Don't. They're too powerful. Just give them what they want and maybe they'll leave," Loki whispered in Thor's ear.

"If we don't do anything, they'll take you!" Thor protested.

"It doesn't matter. Thanos always gets what he wants," Loki said.

Thor gritted his teeth. He wasn't going to let his people suffer because of an ugly, purple titan. "Who are the other creatures next to Thanos? Is there a way to beat them?"

"They are the Black Order, Thanos' children. The orangish-brown one is Black Dwarf. The female is Proxima Midnight. She is the wife of Corvus Glaive, the creature with a hood. The first one who spoke is Ebony Maw. We're doomed if Thanos has all of them here, including himself," Loki explained.

Thanos, who was gaining nothing from the nervous Asgardians, stepped forward. "Give us the Infinity Stone and we'll leave peacefully."

"We don't have an Infinity Stone," Thor said, his hands beginning to spark. Loki shifted uncomfortably next to Thor. Unlike his older brother, he wasn't immune to electricity.

Loki suddenly felt eyes on him. He turned his head and saw Heimdall glaring accusingly at him, his golden eyes seeing straight into Loki's soul.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Either way, I will get what I want," Thanos growled.

The Asgardians stepped closer, their weapons raised, waiting for Thor's word. A young man with short, brown hair spoke up impatiently. "Are we putting an end to this intruder or not, my king?"

Thanos interrupted before Thor could reply. "King? KING?! I'm the only king who is worthy enough to rule the universe. Give me the Infinity Stone. I know you have it. Hand it over now or you will suffer."

"If we give it to you, you will destroy half the universe with it. So, no," Thor said stubbornly.

Thanos chuckled, which shocked everyone. It was an ugly sound. "I see that my pet has told you about my plans. Don't worry, he'll get what he deserves. You have angered me with your refusal to give up what is truly mine. Prepare to die, Asgardians!" Thanos raised his left hand and aimed it at the group of Asgardians. A beam of purple light left the glove and landed right in the middle of the group. Screams were heard as Asgardians dropped left and right.

Valkyrie gasped. Heimdall raised his sword. Lightning was sparking off the walls and floor as Thor charged at Thanos. Loki shouted as Thor aimed a punch at the Titan. Thanos caught Thor mid-flight and threw him back against the wall. The wall cracked where Thor hit it, chunks of metal and plaster falling onto the floor.

Valkyrie raised her sword and ran directly at Thanos. Proxima Midnight stepped in front to block Valkyrie's sword. Valkyrie jumped over her, twisted in the air, and reached around to stab Proxima Midnight through the stomach. Proxima screeched with fury and pulled the sword out of her stomach. She whirled around to smack Valkyrie upside the head. Valkyrie crumpled and hit her head even harder on the ground.

Black Dwarf was off fighting Korg and Miek not too far from Valkyrie. Korg was surprisingly holding his own, taking the brute of Black Dwarf's blows as Miek darted around creature's legs and stabbing whenever he had an opening.

Heimdall had singled out Corvus Glaive. Heimdall, being able to see far off things and a little into the future, was preventing Corvus from getting a hit in. Despite this, Heimdall was getting tired. Corvus showed no signs of slowing down. Corvus was swinging his weapon left and right, and managed to hit the Gatekeeper in the back of the leg, causing Heimdall to fall. Heimdall retaliated and swept his own sword under Corvus' feet. Corvus tripped and barely moved out of the way as Heimdall thrust his sword towards the creatures' chest.

Loki regained his senses just as Ebony Maw threw a door at his head.

"Don't worry. Thanos will reclaim his slave," Ebony Maw said, his voice scratchy but yet intriguing. "You will be saved from the danger of being killed by us."

Loki drew his dagger. "I somehow doubt that I'm saved from the likes of _you."_

Ebony chuckled. "Feisty as ever. Thanos likes your stubbornness. There is no joy in torturing a completely submissive slave. Where is the fun in that?"

Loki looked over Ebony's shoulder. Thor was barely holding up. It wouldn't be much longer before he would give out. Loki had to think of something, and fast.

"Well, life isn't fun without a little mischief," Loki said, hoping to distract Ebony by talking.

The plan seemed to be working. Loki was slowly inching his way closer to Thor. All Loki needed was Ebony near enough for Thor to consider him as threat and rush in to save his little brother. The two of them could take down Ebony Maw and then help the others once Ebony was out of the fight.

"Talkative too. I guess it will be more fun breaking you again," Ebony Maw snarled. Loki took another step back. Only a few more meters and they would be in Thor's field of vision. It would be much easier if Thor had both of his eyes, so that he could see more.

" _Stupid Thor. Stupid eye,"_ Loki thought and twirled his dagger nervously in his hand. " _Stupid Black Order. Everything's stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid!"_

Ebony advanced on Loki. "Where is your silver-tongue, trickster? Or are you too scared to speak?"

"I don't feel like wasting words on the likes of _you,"_ Loki spat.

Ebony mocked being hurt. "Oh, your words cut like a dagger."

"They'll do more than that. As the saying goes, 'The pen _is_ mightier than the sword." Only a hundred meters left.

"Then maybe I'll cut off your tongue."

"You'll have to get close enough to do that. Or are you too scared?"

"I don't need to get close. Just a simple spell and you shall speak no longer," Ebony Maw jeered, and raised his hand.

Loki was ready, though. He counterattacked Ebony's spell and blasted him in the chest with a ball of energy. Ebony flew back and landed near Valkyrie and Proxima Midnight. Valkyrie jabbed her sword into Ebony's stomach and used the leverage to throw him at Proxima.

"Get off and fight," Proxima growled at Ebony. Ebony Maw scrambled off of her and stood up to glare at Loki. Loki cocked his head innocently.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did Valkyrie hurt your feelings?" Loki asked mockingly.

"Your girlfriend will pay for that." Ebony Maw snapped his fingers. Valkyrie crumbled, clutching her head. Blood started leaking from her eyes, mouth, nose, and ears.

"She's not my girlfriend," Loki said, but nevertheless cast a reverse spell. Valkyrie straighten and reached for her sword, but Proxima Midnight kicked it away.

"I don't think that's necessary." Proxima grabbed a fist full of Valkyrie's hair. "Hand over the Tesseract or your girlfriend will get it."

"Like I said. She's _not_ my girlfriend," Loki corrected.

"You do have a girlfriend, do you not?" Ebony questioned. Loki's expression of worry answered Ebony's question. "You do. She'll suffer greatly if you don't give us the Tesseract."

Loki's fingers started twitching, green light spiralling around them. "You'll _never_ get to her. She's somewhere safe where nobody can find."

"Hiding her from the world, huh? What good is a lover if you never see her?"

"I've sent her away to keep her safe from _you,"_ Loki said angrily. "I don't want your filthy hands touching her."

Ebony Maw smiled, showing white teeth. Proxima tugged harder on Valkyrie's hair, winning a small yelp. Valkyrie tried to reach her sword, despite the tight grip on her hair, but the sword was just out of her reach.

"Your girlfriend is much better off with us. I doubt that after what happened in the Void that you even have enough courage to take that wench of yours too your _bed_ ," Ebony Maw taunted.

At that, Loki lost it. He shot bolts of energy at the creature. Proxima released her hold on Valkyrie's hair, allowing Valkyrie to grab her sword and swing it into Proxima's legs. Ebony Maw dodged Loki's blasts with an air of boredom. That was a fatal mistake for him, though. Loki's rage at his girlfriend being insulted left Ebony Maw in a bad situation. Green magic swirled through the air, making it hard to see. Tendrils of energy shot up and wrapped themselves around Ebony's legs. Loki spun his daggers in his hands and sent a dark spell of pain into the metal weapons. He gripped the daggers tightly, green magic dripping from the tip and onto the floor, burning the floor as the magic hissed with contact. With a sudden move, Loki plunged the daggers into Ebony's chest, causing the alien to howl in pain. The magic seeped into Ebony's viens and spread within the bloodstream. Loki twisted the blades, causing more screams. He bent in closer to whisper into Ebony's ear.

"Here's a lesson for you: Never, _never,_ insult my girlfriend," Loki spat, giving the daggers another hard twist. He jumped slightly as a large hand suddenly gripped his shoulder.

"Now, now, my pet. I don't think that's a good idea, hurting my children," Thanos said almost gently and yanked Loki away. Loki's resolve melted, even though he managed to smile a bit once he saw that his daggers were still firmly lodged in Ebony's chest.

Thanos let Loki slip from his grasp. Loki retaliated, but stopped once he saw he was surrounded by the Black Order. Valkyrie, Korg, and Miek were nowhere in sight, presumably leading the other Asgardians to escape. Heimdall was laying against a pile of rubble, clearly too injured to move. Bruce was still behind the throne, although Loki could see him waiting for the perfect time to Hulk out and destroy the purple Titan.

Thanos stepped over Asgardian bodies, and picked up Thor by the head. Thor was barely conscious, his face covered in grime and bruises. He was bleeding from several cuts and wounds. Sweat was plastered to his face as well, probably making the cuts worse with the salty liquid. Thanos twisted Thor so that he was kneeling and facing Loki. He was only staying upright because of Thanos' tight grip on his head.

"The Tesseract or your brother's head," Thanos growled and squeezed Thor's head for emphasis.

Loki bit his bottom lip in worry. How had Thanos found out that he had the Tesseract? He took a step forward, but Proxima Midnight jabbed her weapon closer to him.

"We don't have the Tesseract," Thor said weakly and spit out a mouthful of blood.

"Well, that's too bad. Right, Loki?" Thanos jeered. Loki wisely kept his mouth shut. "Nothing to say, huh? Maybe you don't love your brother enough to give me the Tesseract."

"Torture away," Loki shot back. Thanos grinned and pushed the purple Power Stone against Thor's head. Thor screamed as purple light spread through his body. Loki fought to keep his angry tears from falling. He didn't like watching Thor being tortured over a stupid Infinity Stone.

"Alright, stop!" Loki shouted, finally having enough of watching Thor writhe in pain.

Thanos released Thor and motioned for Loki to continue. Loki summoned the Tesseract and held it out for Thanos to grab.

"I assure you, brother, the sun will shine on us again," Loki said to Thor.

"You really are the worst brother," Thor managed to joke back, but Loki's expression was grim. Thanos grabbed the Tesseract and crushed it, causing it to shatter and reveal the blue Space Stone.

Thanos blew gently, removing a few small pieces of the stone's housing. In a slow, gentle movement, Thanos added the Space Stone to the Gauntlet.

"See, Loki. It wasn't that hard, now was it?" Thanos asked. "I have two Infinity Stones-"

"Yeah huh," Loki interrupted. "But we have a Hulk."

Bruce transformed into the Hulk and rushed to tackle Thanos. Loki dived and somersaulted under Thanos' legs to Thor's side.

Hulk was managing to hold his own, but Thanos was stronger. The Black Order had backed off and let Thanos fight his own battle. Thor and Loki were left standing awkwardly in the corner, watching the Hulk slowly tire. With one quick move, Thanos picked the Hulk up and slammed him down on the ground.

"Is that all you have?" Thanos said, his tone jaunty with confidence.

Nobody said or did anything. The Hulk was beat too quickly for anyone to comprehend. Satisfied with the silence, Thanos raised his gloved fist. Heimdall stirred right before Thanos hit the Hulk. A rainbow of colors swirled around the green giant and teleported him away.

"You'll pay for that, Asgardian," Thanos growled to Heimdall. Heimdall managed a small smirk before Proxima Midnight sank her weapon into him. Thor yelled in shock, and rushed to attack Thanos. Thanos blocked Thor's attack. Thor tumbled to the ground, exhausted. Ebony Maw waved his hands, sending large sheets of metal to wrap around Thor, chaining him in place.

"You'll never win," Thor snarled. Ebony Maw put a finger to his lips-a universal symbol for silence, and sent more metal to cover Thor's mouth.

"Let us go, my children. We have more Stones to collect." Thanos motioned for the Black Order to follow him. Loki stepped from his spot in the corner and summoned his dagger behind his back, out of sight of the intruders.

"Wait!" Loki shouted before they could leave.

"Have you finally decided to join us?" Thanos ridiculed.

"Yes," Loki swallowed nervously to keep his voice from wavering. "I, Loki, Prince of Asgard...Odinson.." Loki glanced at Thor. Thor seemed slightly shocked at Loki's bold move. "The rightful king of Jotunheim," Loki continued, "God of Mischief, pledge my allegiance to you, my m-master. Undying loyalty."

With that, Loki stepped to stab Thanos through the throat, but Thanos caught his arm in a bubble of power.

"Undying loyalty, yes." Thanos smiled grimly and grabbed Loki's wrist. Loki grunted as Thanos twisted Loki's wrist, causing his dagger to clatter to the ground. Thanos wrapped a large hand around Loki's neck, cutting off Loki's air circulation. Loki gasped for air, but Thanos' grip was too tight. He tried kicking the Titan, but Thanos pulled him up to eye level without blinking.

"You have betrayed me for the last time, trickster. Who's side are you on?" Thanos asked.

"Obviously not yours," Loki choked out, his face turning red from lack of air. He took a shallow breath. "You'll _never_ be... a god."

Thanos snarled and squeezed even harder. Suddenly, there was an unmistakable sound of Loki's neck shattering. Thor screamed against the gag, lightning sparking off of him in rage. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"No more resurrections," Thanos said and dropped Loki's limp form unmercifully in front of Thor. Loki laid still, all the color drained from his face as his clouded, green eyes stared unblinking.

Thanos stepped closer to the Black Order and gave Thor a smirk of satisfaction. He raised his left fist, bathing himself and his children in blue light as the Space Stone sent them off Norns-knows-where.

The metal pinning Thor fell to the ground harmlessly, allowing Thor to crawl forward.

"Loki," Thor whispered, tears filling his eyes. "Loki, please. Don't be dead. Norns, no! Please just be another trick. Loki!"

Thor rested his head on Loki's body, allowing the tears to fall.

"I promised never to let anything hurt you. I swear that your life will be avenged," Thor sobbed. "I promise, little brother, Thanos will pay for this!"

Thor built up enough strength to cradle his baby brother in his arms. Thor closed Loki's eyes and sobbed into the raven-colored hair, shaking with rage and despair.

Then the ship exploded.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sigyn was worried. Loki had sent her to Valhalla to keep her safe from Thanos' wrath. Hela, Loki's daughter, helped her settle in; even though it was hard to be comfortable when she was one of the only living people in the land of full of the dead. Sigyn was kept busy trying to make sure that Jormungandr and Fenris, Hela's older brothers, stayed out of trouble. Sleipnir, the only somewhat responsible elder child, helped out the best he could, but even he was a child of the God of Mischief.

Sigyn sighed and looked out her bedroom window. The landscape matched that of Asgard's down to the last blade of grass. Hela had designed it to match the landscapes of every planet and realm in all the universes. It was nice, so the dead could go on "living" in the comfort of their homes.

Sigyn was stirred from her daydream by a knock on the door.

"Mom?" a teenage boy's voice asked.

Sigyn stood up from her window seat and opened the door. A boy about fourteen stood there. He smiled sadly. His short black hair that faded out to brown contrasted his hazel eyes, which were shining with unshed tears. Sigyn smiled back and let him in.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not your mother," Sigyn said.

The boy shrugged tiredly. "Well, since you're dating my father, I thought I should get used to calling you 'mom.'"

"We're not getting married yet. We're too young," Sigyn replied. The boy turned and stared at her, hazel eyes meeting her own violet ones. His high cheekbones reminded her of Loki.

"Yeah, but still…"

"Is there something you want, Sleipnir?" Sigyn asked and sat down on a chair. Sleipnir remained standing.

"I just got news that Thanos is active."

"Thanos?!" Sigyn stood up quickly. "What do you mean?"

Sleipnir took a deep breath. "He just attacked the refugee ship that dad's on."

"Is he alright?" Sigyn's worry was increasing.

Sleipnir shook his head. "Hela found out that he-um-passed into the land of Valhalla this morning. Hela's already sent out a reaper to collect his soul. T-Thor's alive, but Hela's afraid that Thanos will end up collecting all the Infinity Stones, and wipe out half the universe. If that happens, Valhalla will be in chaos."

Sigyn was silent. "Loki? He didn't make it?"

"No. Thanos broke his neck-" Sleipnir couldn't hold together any longer and broke down crying. Sigyn hugged him close, tears falling from her own eyes.

"He'll be alright, right? I mean, will he be in Valhalla, not Helheim?' Sleipnir asked, his voice wavering.

"That is out of our hands," Sigyn answered, even though she wasn't sure that Loki would make it into Valhalla, especially his crimes against New York. "If anything, they'll give a fair trial."

"He's innocent, though. Hela s-said that T-Thanos made f-father attack New York. Thanos is the one r-responsible for the N-New Y-York Incident."

Sigyn said nothing, but she was surprised. Loki never told her about what happened after he fell from the Bifrost. She assumed it was bad, though, since she knew that Loki would never hurt someone on purpose.

Sleipnir sniffled and wiped his eyes with back of his hand. "Hela said that he should be here in about an hour."

"Give me a minute alone," Sigyn muttered. "I'll meet you there."

Sleipnir nodded and left Sigyn alone in her room. Sigyn grabbed a tissue from her desk and wiped her eyes.

"Oh, Loki." Sigyn collapsed on her bed and broke down crying. She couldn't believe it. Her boyfriend of nearly a thousand years was dead, and officially this time. She doubted that he would be coming back from the dead this time.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Loki couldn't breath. He couldn't see. Everything was black. All that he remembered was Thanos forcing him to hand over the Tesseract and suddenly, the lack of air.

"Loki." A voice rang out in the dark. Loki couldn't place who the voice was coming from, but he sensed it was close.

"Loki," the voice said again. Suddenly Loki could see clearly. He was standing in the refugee ship, purple fire burning in patches. A man in a black tuxedo was standing a few feet away. The man's brown hair was covered in a black top hat.

"Who are you?" Loki asked and felt around for his daggers.

"I'm Vincent. I'm a reaper, here to take your soul to the Queen in Valhalla," the man replied.

"What?"

"You heard me. You're dead, Loki. Thanos shattered your neck after choking you. It was a bold move taking on the Titan alone," Vincent explained.

"What?" Loki asked again. Vincent wasn't making any sense. Dead? _Him?_

"Look around you, Loki. Can't you tell? There's no going back. Its official this time. That time on Svartalfheim when you had a near-death experience, you didn't have a reaper, right?"

"No," Loki admitted. He looked down to hide his tears. He froze suddenly as he noticed something laying on the ground. It was his body, laying there cold and blank. Loki could see that Thor was cradling him and sobbing.

"What?" Loki gasped.

Vincent sighed. "I'm sorry, Loki, but its time to go," Vincent said and extended his hand.

"Why?"

"Because you're dead. That's why. Now if you don't hurry up and come with me, you'll end up staying here forever as a restless spirit. Is that something you want?"

Loki shook his head. "Can I have five minutes alone?"

Vincent pulled out a silver pocket watch. "Five minutes, and _then_ we're going."

Loki nodded as Vincent disappeared. He turned back to face Thor. He knelt down beside his older brother and whispered, "I don't know if you can hear me, but I just want to let you know that I love you even if you think that I'm the worst brother in existence."

Thor continued to cry, clearly not hearing Loki. Loki rested a hand on Thor's shoulder, but it passed right through. Thor shivered as if cold, but said nothing.

Loki frowned and wiped a tear from his eye. Why couldn't Thor hear him?

Vincent reappeared and gave Loki a sad smile.

"Time's up. Are you ready?" Vincent asked.

Loki nodded in reply. Vincent extended his hand. Loki took it and together they disappeared in a flash of white light.

Loki didn't see his brother survive the explosion that happened seconds after they disappeared.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Hela tapped her foot nervously and glanced at her phone's digital clock. Vincent was taking too long to retrieve her father's soul. Maybe something was wrong. No, although he could be impatient sometimes, Vincent was her best reaper. He would never give up on souls. He surely wouldn't lose Loki's; it radiated too much power. She was about ready to call him when a bright white light lit up her throne room. The light didn't affect her; she was used to it. Reapers had a tendency to arrive in a flashy manner.

Hela pocketed her phone and sat up straight. "Well?" she asked.

Vincent gently nudged a dark haired man forward. The man looked up into Hela's face, his expression somber and slightly disoriented.

"He's having a hard time," Vincent explained.

"Yes, dying has that effect on certain people," Hela replied. "How did he die?"

"Thanos choked him to death and then shattered his neck. It was a tragic scene to watch," Vincent said. The man shuddered at the mention of Thanos, but didn't say anything.

Hela grimaced. She knew about Loki's death for weeks, but she didn't expect it to be Thanos who ended up killing the Trickster. Thanos usually wanted to keep his slaves alive. Why the sudden change?

"That means Thanos is on the rise," Hela stated bitterly. "The universe's end is closer than I imagined. Are the Avengers and Guardians aware of his actions?"

Vincent smoothed down his tie. "The creature they call the Hulk and some of the Asgardians escaped. The Hulk is on his way to earth as we speak, thanks to Heimdall's fast reflexes. Sadly, Heimdall did not make it. The Avengers will most likely be warned by the Hulk, but I am unsure about the Guardians."

"What about Uncle Thor? Is he alright?" Hela asked, her voice full of concern.

"His is at the moment, but since Thanos has both the Power and Space Stones, he might not be safe much longer."

Hela cursed under her breath. She really hated Thanos. He disrupted the natural order of life and death.

Hela leaned back in her dark green throne and waved in Vincent's direction. "Thank you, Vincent. Keep me posted on any changes. I would like a word with my father alone. Go take a quick rest. I heard there are donuts in the break room."

Vincent bowed and left the same way he arrived. Hela stood up and descended down the stairs to Loki's side. She placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her. The similarity between the two was uncanny. Hela had black hair and pale skin just like her father. The only difference in appearance was that Hela's eyes were a pale greenish-gray while Loki's were a pure emerald green.

"Dad?" Hela whispered. Loki looked into Hela's eyes, his face streaked with tears.

"Hela?" Loki asked, unsure about the girl in front of him.

"Yes, it's me, your daughter," Hela replied.

"I have a… daughter?" Loki was confused.

Hela let go of her father's shoulder. She was sure that he would have recognized her.

"Yes. I'm the youngest and the only girl out of four children. You probably don't remember because Odin cursed you and us to forget who we were. He didn't like the idea that a Prince of Asgard had four 'monstrous' children. That's why you don't recognize me," Hela explained; and she _wasn't_ lying. Odin _did_ curse them because he was ashamed that his adopted son had four kids, who were considered "monsters," long before his son was old enough to even understand where babies came from. Magic messed things up a lot, which is why Hela swore to never have kids until she was married. She didn't want to end up like Loki, even though she and her brothers were not his fault. All four of them were results of a way to get out of a dangerous situation; and _none_ of them were consensual on Loki's part.

Loki's slowly lit up with recognition. "Hela, I'm so sorry for leaving you here alone. You were just a baby," Loki apologized.

"It's alright. I, mean, it's not your fault. It's Odin's. At least we are together now, even though I wish it was because of better reasons," Hela muttered. She wished that she knew her father growing up. Maybe then she wouldn't have attacked Asgard. It was hard to explain to countless Asgardian who ended up in Valhalla why she killed them. Sometimes being the Queen of Valhalla had it's downs.

"What about Odin?" Loki's question jerked Hela from her thoughts. "Is he in Valhalla?"

Hela shook her head no. "We held a trial and everything. We finally decided that he was to spend some time in Helheim for kidnapping you, cursing us, and other crimes he committed. It won't be permanent," Hela asked once she saw that Loki looked confused. "It's only punishment for his crimes when he was alive. After he finishes it, he will be allowed into Valhalla."

"Oh."

There was silence for a few awkward minutes before Hela decided to change the subject. Things were getting too feely for her. She gestured around the throne room. "Do you like what I did with the place?" she asked.

Loki nodded and fully took in his surroundings. Tall pillars of beautifully carved marble stood proudly at the edges of the hall. The ceiling matched the pillars, both cream colored with silver flakes embedded in the stone. The floor was made out of black granite. Balls of fire were set in silver bowls that were connected to the pillars, which lit up the area with a soft glow. The walls were the same cream-colored marble as the pillars, but in addition, had tall windows of glass that looked out over the garden. Granite steps led up to Hela's throne, dark silver shaped into a high-backed chair with armrests and dark green leather padding that looked surprisingly comfortable. It was a simply designed throne, but it sat up there proudly. It seemed to invite people over, but still cast an air of authority. The whole design was modeled after Asgard's throne room, minus all the gold.

"I remodeled a bit," Hela continued. "The former ruler, Death, had terrible designs. As cool as walls and floors made out of bone is, I didn't think it would have gone over well with the residents. Being dead is scary enough. They don't need a queen who sits on a throne made out of bones on top of all that."

Loki nodded in agreement. "It is beautiful."

Hela laughed, her voice echoing around the spacious hall. "Wait until you see everything else." She led Loki out of the and towards the "Asgardian Soul Section." "I modeled everything after the spirits' homelands and houses. It made Valhalla seem more welcoming," she shrugged, "and 'homey.'"

Loki smiled for the first time since Thor's stupid joke on the refugee ship before they were attacked. "I imagine it would."

"Sigyn is here." Loki perked up at the mention of his girlfriend's name. "Thanos hasn't been able to reach us. Valhalla is safe...for now. We don't know the full extent of Thanos' powers, but if he gets the Soul stone, he'll be able to control both the living _and_ the dead," Hela stated gravely.

Loki bit his bottom lip; it was a bad habit of his. "But you do have the armies of Valhalla, do you not?" he asked.

Hela nodded. "If it comes to that extreme, it'll be like Ragnarok."

Loki stopped mid-stride. Hela had walked a few paces before she noticed her father wasn't next to her. Hela looked at Loki, a puzzled expression on her face. Loki made eye contact with his daughter, his own face set in a serious mask. "What happened on Asgard wasn't the _real_ Ragnarok, was it?" Loki questioned.

Hela took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She was clearly shocked.

Loki continued, "Surtur was there, but the Gates of Valhalla weren't opened. There was no army of the undead. Granted you found the bodies buried under the castle, but they were not from Valhalla. You just reanimated their corpses, but they weren't full fledged Valhallian warriors. It wasn't Ragnarok. Well, not all of it. The full prophecy wasn't completed."

"There's a prophecy?" Hela blinked in confusion.

"There's a prophecy for almost anything. The mortals got most of it correct with their myths of us. The prophecy is: _Everything has its end. A dawn to new a beginning. Fire and bone shall destroy the City of Gold. The Gates of Valhalla will open and life shall perish into chaos. Because for a beginning to start, something has to end,"_ Loki recited.

Hela was speechless. She would never had guessed that her destruction of Asgard wasn't truly Ragnarok.

Loki spoke up before she could answer. "There's also a prophecy for Thanos."

"What?!" Hela choked out.

Loki nodded, his green eyes blazing with renewed energy. "Yes. Stones of infinite power will be collected. Dust and blood with spread through the universe. Half will fall. Half will stand. A former slave of a Titan has to rise up and defy an untimely death. _Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives for the Titan only courts death."_

Loki suddenly gasped, eyes widening with sudden realization.

" _I'm_ the only one who can stop Thanos! _I'm_ the former slave! That's why Thanos killed me! He knew about the prophecy! He didn't want me standing in his way!"

Hela clamped a hand over mouth to keep herself from screaming in shock. "It can't be! You're dead! How can you take down Thanos?" Hela asked.

"I don't know," Loki admitted. He suddenly grabbed Hela's shoulders and looked at her dead in the eye. "We need to see Sigyn. She'll help us warn Thor."

Hela didn't say anything, just grasped her father's hand took off running, pulling him towards a set of granite stairs and around several corners. The two collided into Sleipnir.

"Sorry. I wasn't paying attention. You alright?" Sleipnir complained and dusted off his blue jeans. He fixed his hair and squinted at Hela and Loki. "Sis? Dad? Is that our dad?"

"No time to explain. We need to find mom," Hela cut him off. "Go find Jormungandr and Fenris and meet us in the throne room."

Sleipnir nodded, but she had already taken off. Hela burst into Sigyn's room with barely a knock, startling Sigyn who reflexively reached for the sword on her her table and swung it at Hela. The metal bounced off of Hela's side without a scratch on the young goddess.

Hela threw up her hands in surrender. "It's just me. We need y-"

Hela found that Sigyn wasn't standing where she was a moment before. Hela let her arms drop and she turned to find a slightly disturbing sight for kid to see…

Sigyn had her arms wrapped around Loki's shoulders Loki's own hands pulled Sigyn closer; the two of them locked in a tight, passionate kiss.

Hela faked throwing up, which caused the two to unlock lips. Both of their faces were streaked in tears with cheeks tinged pink.

Loki, still clung tightly to his girlfriend, spoke up first. "Sigyn, we need your help…"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Let me get this straight," Sigyn said. " _You're_ one who has to kill Thanos even though you're _dead?"_

"Yes," Loki said. They were standing in the throne room with Hela, Sleipnir, and two other boys. It had taken a while to explain everything; how he died, if he was alright, the prophecies, and Hela's idea to bring Loki back to life so he could kill Thanos.

Sigyn furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "And you need _me_ to help _Hela_ bring _you_ back to life, so you can kill Thanos and stop him from wiping out half the universe?"

"Yes," Loki repeated.

"How am I supposed to do that? I'm a Healer, not a necromancer. I can't bring people back to life, especially if we can't their body is lost in space and their soul is a source of immense power. It's impossible!"

"It's been done before," Hela piped up.

Sigyn shifted her gaze onto the dark-haired girl. "Yes, but it was human soul who had no magical abilities whatsoever."

"So?" Hela asked.

"It's much harder to bring a powerful sorcerer, probably the most powerful sorcerer in the universe, back to life. And what if Thanos can't be stopped. What if the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy loose. What then?! The universe would be in worse chaos than it already is!" Sigyn took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. A small headache was starting form. She continued in a softer tone, "I'm sorry if I seem too upset. It's not everyday your boyfriend shows up dead in Valhalla."

Loki pulled Sigyn into a hug and kissed her for head. "I'm sorry. I know it's a lot to ask for, but we don't have another plan and doubt the Avengers will be able to take him down."

One of the boys standing off to the side, raised his hand tentatively. His chocolate brown eyes were full of concern. "If I may, can I say something?"

"Of course, Fenris," Loki said softly to his youngest son.

Fenris pushed his curly, dark brown hair out of his perfectly tanned face and continued. "I know it may sound obvious, but dad's dead now. That means he's a ghost. Ghosts can travel into the land of the living. Maybe we can use that to our advantage and defeat Thanos some other way if bringing him back to life is nearly impossible," Fenris explained.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. The other boy, the one with green hair and pierced ears, clapped Fenris on the back. "Wonderfully explained. For once you aren't a total useless, piece of sh-"

"Jormungandr," Loki cut the boy off. "Be nice to your brother." Too Hela he said, "Does that work? Can I still stop Thanos if I'm a ghost?"

"It'll take a while get used to being around the living while you're nothing more than a spirit, but yeah, I'm sure we can figure out a way."

Hela pulled out her phone and started typing down plans. This might actually work out okay.

 **A one-shot was too long and I didn't want to break it into short chapters, so I decided just to break it into parts. Part Two coming soon! Hope I didn't emotional scar you. (Though I doubt that my writing could do that. I don't think my writing's very good). I love all reviews and readers. :)**


	2. Part Two: Destiny Still Arrives

**I enjoyed Thor Ragnarok, but I didn't like how they changed Hela's parentage. In the myths _and_ the comics, Hela is _Loki's_ daughter. I know it probably made more sense for the movie adaptation to make Hela secret child of Odin, but I still didn't like it. Fenris, the giant wolf, is another one of Loki's kids. Sleipnir was also in the first Thor movie, making Jormungdr the only kid of Loki (excluding Nari and Vari) not to be in a Marvel movie. Well, I'm getting off track here. I typed this on my phone, so there might be some errors. There is swearing in this next part, so WARNING! Oh, and there's mentions of torture, nothing too vivid, all implied, but still... This is probably the darkest fanfic I've written. (Okay, wow. What is wrong with me? How in the world did I come up with this story?) There are mentions of ghosts and blah,blah, which are based off of _Supernatural_ , with my own kind of twist on it. If you watch _Supernatural,_ you'll probably understand what I''m talking about better. (Hopefully I made it understandable for those who haven't seen the TV show). Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave a review; I love hearing your opinions.**

 **Part Two: Destiny Still Arrives**

Many thoughts circled around Thor's mind. He was barely aware of his surroundings after what happened on the refugee ship. His body numbly fought through the mass of six-armed aliens, but his mind was elsewhere.

" _I promise that I'll never let anything hurt you," a three year old Thor whispered to his newborn brother._

He knew in the back of his mind that had broken his promise. Although nothing physical seriously hurt Loki, Thor knew that he had hurt his little brother mentally and emotionally.

" _I never wanted the throne! All I ever wanted was to be your equal!" a much older Loki screamed at his blonde brother while the Bifrost destroyed Jotunheim._

His equal. All his life, Loki was an outcast. No friends. He was considered a freak for using magic; a woman's way of life. While almost all Asgardian citizens were warriors, Loki preferred to sit in the library and learn. He was different. It was in his blood; Jotun blood.

" _I could have done it father. I could have done it. For you. For all of us," Loki choked out as he was hanging over the edge of the Bifrost._

" _No, Loki," Odin said quietly._

 _The look of disappointment, failure, and sadness was heartbreaking for Thor to look at. A tear fell down Loki's face as he let go, falling into the void. Thor couldn't hold back his scream of loss and terror._

His father had rejected Loki. The same father who, Thor now realized, had not treated Loki fairly. Loki had always seemed to receive the worst punishments for little mistakes. Odin had given up on Loki once he saw him, but the liar of a king had raised Loki up to believe that he was Odin's son.

" _TELL ME!" Loki screamed at Odin, his face streaked with tears._

" _I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day; bring about an alliance, bring about permanent peace; through your," Odin explained._

 _Loki reply of "What?" was barely more than a whisper._

" _But those plans no longer matter," Odin continued._

" _So I'm no more than another stolen relic, locked up here, until you might have use for me?" Loki's mood slowly changed to anger._

" _Why do you twist my words?" Odin asked, trying to defend himself._

" _You could have told me what I was from the beginning. Why didn't you?" Loki questioned angrily._

" _You're my son," Odin replied, no emotion in his words. "I only wanted to protect you from the truth."_

 _Being the God of Lies, Loki knew it wasn't entirely truthful. "Whay? Because I-I-I'm the monster that parents tell their children about at night?" Loki choked out._

A monster. Loki believed himself to be a monster.

Thor sliced down several aliens, ignoring his friend's attempts to say hello. His joke at Steve for coping his beard was an attempt to hide his pain.

Thor had failed his little brother. He had teased him too much for reading and using magic. He hadn't paid enough attention to a young child who was suffering because he only got love from his adoptive mother; nothing from his father. It was Thor's fault that Loki had pushed others away, building up a protective wall between himself and life. All because he was heartbroken, considered a failure by his loved ones, and he didn't get and enough love in his childhood.

Thor's last words to Loki still rung in his head. " _You truly are the worst, brother."_ It was supposed to be a joke, but Loki's sad glance at the older man was one that took it seriously. He wished he could take it back. Take everything and back and actually _be there_ for his brother.

Thor wasn't there when Loki broke down crying in library after he found out about his true parentage. He wasn't there when Loki was tortured, raped, and turned into an emotionless murderer by Thanos. He never heard Loki's pleas of help as the younger prince suffered as Thanos' slave. He was too stupid to realize that Loki's normally emerald green eyes were a cold shade of blue.

He wasn't there when Loki mourned after his mother's death and had a near-death experience on Svartalfheim. He wasn't there when Loki was drugged on Sakaar and had involuntary slept with the Grandmaster to get in the Sakaarian's "good graces." In fact, Thor had _suggested_ that Loki be better off staying on that Helheim of a planet with the pervert Grandmaster. He couldn't stop Thanos from killing his friend and brother. _His_ brother. The one he _swore_ to protect.

These thoughts and more fueled Thor's rage as he hurled Stormbreaker at Thanos. Thor's expression was grim, showing no emotion as the war axe lodged itself deep into Thanos' chest, causing the Mad Titan to fall on his knees.

Thor slowly approached Thanos, taking his time to let the purple alien suffer. Thor's electric blue eyes were blazing with anger, so much so that Thanos was beginning to be afraid of the Asgardian.

"I told you, you would die for that," Thor growled and gripped the back of the Titans bald head. Thor slowly pushed Stormbreaker deeper into Thanos' chest. He glared down into the Titan's cold eyes.

Despite the pain he was in, Thanos smirked up at Thor. "You should have aimed for the head." Thanos raised his gloved fist. Thor barely had time to react before Thanos did it…

The single Snap was like millions of lives breaking. A wave of power washed over the universe, choosing its victims randomly and leaving behind nothing but dust.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Everyone in Valhalla felt the ground shake, which was strange since there were never any earthquakes.

Hela rushed to her throne and pressed a button on the bottom of the left armrest. A giant screen of pure magic appeared, covering a least sixty feet all round it's perimeter. An image of Wakanda in ruins appeared on the screen. The land was filled with six-armed alien and Wakandian warrior corpses. Those who were still standing were slowly being cut in half as the Snap turned them to dust.

Loki, Sigyn, Hela, and the three boys watched in horror as several Avengers fell. First it was Bucky with a confused cry of "Steve." Then it was Wanda, Groot, T'Challa…

Upset cries were heard as more and more people were reduced to ash. The screen cut to a scene on Titan, Thanos' home planet.

Tony Stark was standing there, bleeding through his armour as the Guardians and Doctor Strange disintegrated. Soon it was only the teenage boy, Tony, and the blue alien Loki recognized as one of Thanos' adopted children, Nebula.

"Oh no!" Hela cried. "Not Peter!"

"Peter?" Sleipnir asked.

Hela pointed at the screen. "Spider-Man or also known as Peter Parker. He's only fifteen and already an Avenger. I've been tracking his progress because his uncle Benjamin asked me to make sure his nephew was safe," Hela explained.

Sleipnir nodded and turned back to the screen. Flakes were starting to flake off of Peter. He collapsed into Tony's arms, crying, "I don't want to go."

Tony hugged Peter, an upset look on the billionaire's face was the only sign that he was scared. Peter cried into Tony's shoulders until even he flaked away.

It was too much to handle. Hela shut off the screen and turned away to hide her tears. Loki stared where the screen was, his green eyes shining with unshed tears. The scenes he just watched were too emotional.

"I can't believe it! That stupid SON OF A BITCH JUST WIPED OUT HALF OF THE UNIVERSE'S POPULATION!" Jormungandr shouted, and started swearing and kicking the pillars.

Hela clamped a hand over her mouth, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. "I don't believe it. After all these years of planning and doubt from me, he finally managed to collect all six Infinity Stones," Hela whispered so quietly that the others had to strain to hear. "It's my fault. I should have told him to stop. He did this for me, but I never told him I didn't want millions dead. It disrupts the natural order of life and death."

Fenris placed a hand on his younger sister's shoulder. "Sis, I know now might be the best time to ask, but I thought Thanos wanted to wipe out half the universe because of depleted resources?"

Hela wiped her eyes and nodded. "Yes, that is one of his intentions. He's also in love with me, so apparently he thinks that if he kills half of the population, I'll end up liking him _and_ he gets to achieve a perfect balance," Hela explained.

"Great!" Fenris threw up his hands in frustration. "Just what we needed. A homicidal, murderous, OCD Titan!"

"OCD?" Sleipnir raised an eyebrow. "Probably more like a perfectionist."

"It doesn't matter," Loki said. "What matters is that Valhalla is going to be in chaos with the flood of souls coming in."

Hela gasped and reached for her phone. She typed in the phone number for the Reapers' headquarters. Someone picked up on the first ring.

"Hello? Vincent, great it's you. We have a problem...Yes...What?" Hela paused as Vincent continued talking. "No...Can you come over to the throne room?"

A flash of white light blinded everyone but Hela. As the rest of group stood, blinking dark spots out of their eyes, Hela looked expectantly at Vicent.

"What's wrong?" Hela asked.

Vincent cleared his throat before explaining. "After the Snap, we expected a wave of souls to come in. Valhalla's too quiet. No souls have entered, especially the ones affected by the Snap."

"That's impossible!" Hela cried. "All living beings go to either Valhalla or Helheim when they die."

"Unless their souls get trapped somewhere. That's how things like vengeful ghosts happen," Loki added. "They get trapped in the Veil, the area between life and death."

"I know, but there were billions of souls that were killed. Most souls cross through, or at least a few would," Hela said.

"None have, not even one, my Queen. It is a peculiar situation," Vincent said.

The whole group was astonished. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

"Billions of souls...lost. Restless. They'll never be at peace," Hela muttered almost to herself. "This isn't how death works! Death doesn't…No!"

Loki gently grasped Hela's arm and led her to her throne. She plopped down on it with a heavy sigh. "It-it's not normal! Th-that evil, murderer DISRUPTED THE NATURAL ORDER!"

Hela lunged out of the throne, knocking Loki off-balance. "I'm going to find those souls and hunt him down and kill him where he stands! Maybe then he'll understand never to mess with _DEATH!"_ Hela growled, her face twisted into an ugly mask of pure, cold rage.

Everybody took a quick step backwards, away from Hela. Black fire shot up around Hela's hands, gray smoke curling up towards the ceiling.

Maybe he was stupid for going near Hela when her rage had summoned her 'death touch,' but Loki still took a step towards his daughter. (The 'death touch' was a powerful force that only Hela possessed. She could kill anyone and _anything_ with a single touch, reducing the victim to a pile of dust and sending their soul straight to Valhalla for judging).

"Hela," Loki whispered so only Hela could hear. He placed a hand on her arm, slowly pushing her arm down. "Now is not the time to get angry. There is a time and place for that, but rage blinds warriors; and because of that, they tend to lose in battle. We'll find the souls and then, we'll deal with Thanos. I want him dead too, believe me, but we can't let our emotions lead us into a fight that we are bound to lose without thinking first."

The fire slowly fizzled out. Hela sat back down on her throne, exhaustion taking over.

"I'm sorry, dad. It's just-"

"I know," Loki said.

Hela waved her hand towards Vincent. "Send your best reapers to go search for the souls in the Veil," Hela ordered Vincent. "If you can't find them, don't continue. I don't want to lose you as well. Your lives are important. If it's too dangerous, turn back. This is just a search party, not a chance to act like a hero."

Vincent bowed and disappeared, blinding everyone again.

"We'll find them," Loki said.

Hela ignored her father. "Go rest up. All of you. I have a team people watching Thanos' every move. We need to be prepared, since our time for revenge may be closer than we think."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

 _Loki was dragged across the stone floor, his vision too blurry to see everything clearly. Nevertheless, Loki was able to tell that the area he was being dragged too was similar to a throne room._

 _He struggled to break free of his captor's grasp, but the hands digging into his skin were not budging._

 _He was suddenly pulled into a kneeling position, the only thing keeping up were the hands holding tightly on his forearms._

 _Loki felt, rather than heard, the huge footsteps approaching. He could feel someone, or_ something _, towering over him._

 _A deep voice caused Loki to jump._

" _And what do we have here?" the voice asked._

 _Loki's vision swam as a large finger lifted his chin upwards. A giant, purple face peered into his._

 _Incomprehensible words were exchanged between the purple creature and the creatures holding Loki._

" _Ah," the deep voice rumbled again, in English this time. The creature stared down at Loki, cold, dark eyes making Loki feel smaller than he was. "You are not a normal Asgardian, are you? You're something different, something…" the creature paused to look for the right word. "Powerful. Not many people can survive falling through the Void, let alone falling for nearly a week."_

 _A week? It felt more like a year to Loki. Whatever the length was, Loki's fall was abruptly stopped, painfully, by hard rock; where he was found by two aliens and dragged here._

 _Loki opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out._

 _The finger left Loki's chin. He could barely make out the creature as it turned away from him, standing facing the stars with its hands clasped behind it's back._

" _You know, it's been a while since I've had a visitor. Not many come through here, since the place is so remote and dangerous to go near. But you-" the creature turned back towards Loki, and in one stride was inches away from the Asgardian. "You wished to die. That's why you fell into the Void."_

 _Loki's head jerked up in shock. How had the creature known that he let go of the staff with full intentions to die? Loki attempted to search his brain for creatures that could read minds, but a large headache advised Loki against thinking too much._

 _The creature lifted Loki up to a standing position. "You're emotions are conflicted. You are heartbroken, alone. Someone has inflicted a great pain onto you."_

 _The creature let of go Loki, causing the Asgardian to fall forward. Alien arms grabbed hold of him, catching him before he hit the ground. Loki struggled to stay upright, legs shaking with the action._

" _I can cure you of your pain."_

 _Loki scoffed internally. Nothing could ever fix what Odin did to him. Nothing could ever win back his brother's trust. No, Loki had to suffer alone. He broke it, he had to fix it. Now, of he could just get off this piece of rock..._

" _You're thinking about leaving," the creature stated._

 _Loki's breathing hitched. For the first time he noticed another alien standing off to the side, holding a scepter with a glowing stone. The stone was glowing a pale blue, wisps of blue light curled in the air. Loki realized with a jolt that the blue light was connected to his head._

" _Ah. You've finally noticed. To be honest, I thought you'd notice sooner, given you're reputation..._ Loki _."_

Loki bolted upright with a loud gasp, bare chest heaving. Beads of sweat soaked Loki's pale skin.

Shadows filled the bedroom, making it seem scarier than it actually was.

Sigyn stirred beside Loki. She groaned and pushed herself to a sitting position. She blew hair out of her face and yawned. "What's wrong?" Sigyn asked. The light from the moon bathed her face in silver light.

Loki looked down at her and hugged the blankets closer. He shivered, but it wasn't because of the cold. He never got cold. The feel of blankets against his bare skin helped calm him down his nerves.

"Are you alright?" Sigyn pressed on, concerned.

"I'm fine. Just a nightmare, nothing more," Loki said and dangled his legs over the edge of the bed. He rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, sweat making it stick up in places.

Sigyn rolled over to turn on the bedside lamp. She sat up, pushed the blankets off her legs, and crawled over the bed to sit beside Loki. The silver night dress she was wearing just barely reached her knees. The straps hung off her shoulders,defining her chest and curves perfectly.

"Just a nightmare, huh?" Sigyn started to massage Loki's tense shoulders. "I'm sure there's more to that."

Loki sighed. "I keep reliving every moment I spent with Thanos over and over. It started after the New York Incident. I can't stop it, either. Every single night I have a nightmare. They're so vivid, too. They seem so real because they actually happened."

Sigyn hugged Loki and rested her head on his right shoulder. "I know it must be hard. There are spells and medical ways to deal with PTSD and anxiety, if that is what you are facing," Sigyn said.

Loki wrapped an arm around Sigyn's waist. "They won't go away. I doubt spells will work."

"We can give it a try. If that doesn't work..." Sigyn shook her head. "We'll find a way. I'm sure of that." She let go of Loki and rolled back to her side of the bed. She turned the lamp off and laid down; arms outstretched and beckoning. "Come here, handsome."

Loki obliged, resting his head on Sigyn's chest. He breathed in her flowery aroma and fell asleep with a heavy sigh.

Sigyn combed through Loki's long, dark hair with her fingers. "It's alright," she whispered. "We're safe in Valhalla."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Everything is definitely _not_ okay!" Hela shouted.

It was the next day (Yes, there was night and day in Valhalla. It made it seem real), and the family was eating breakfast in the castle's dining hall. Vincent had come in with more terrible news. Apparently the team of reapers hadn't found the lost souls, but they _did_ figure out where they were being kept.

"I can't believe he would do that!" Hela banged her hand on the table in anger, causing bowls and silverware to jump.

Sleipnir calmly picked up his spoon from the floor and wiped it off before digging back into his bowl of cereal. He swallowed before asking the question that was burning in everyone's minds. "And what exactly did Thanos do that is worse than killing billions of people?"

Hela slammed her glass of orange juice down so hard that it shattered, spilling the juice onto the wooden table. "That... _prick_ , didn't just wipe out half the universe. He absorbed the souls of his victims into the Soul Stone," Hela explained. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down.

"It's only a guess, Your Highness. We are not certain if it's true," Vincent added from his spot in the corner.

"Of course it's true!" Hela snapped. "Souls have power, immense power. He will need them if he wants to use the Gauntlet again."

Silence hung over the group. They all knew that souls were the center of a person; that's where magic and "special abilities" came from. Only certain people and beings were born with special souls. Magic was a main example of this. It was a lot easier for someone to learn magic if he or she was born with a soul that contained even a little bit of magic.

"Are they alive?" Sigyn asked.

"Their souls are, their bodies aren't. As long as the souls stay intact, the victims can be revived," Vincent answered.

"We can't exactly revive them without their bodies. You saw what happened. Everyone who fell victim was turned to dust," Jormungdr stated.

"Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return," Sleipnir said quietly into his bowl. He looked up to find everyone staring at him.

"What?" Jormungdr asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sleipnir blinked. "I heard it somewhere..."

"He's not exactly wrong," Loki muttered in defense of his eldest child.

This time the confused looks were thrown in Loki's direction.

"And what does that mean?" Jormungdr asked.

"Yes, please explain," Hela added and rolled her eyes.

Loki set down his apple he was eating. He cleared his throat before explaining. "Creation itself started from dust. You've heard the saying 'old as dirt,' right?" There were nods in reply. "Well, that means life, _your life_ , started from a speck of dust. There's many depictions of how creation and life started, but almost all of the stories start out with either a bright light or a tiny grain of dirt," Loki continued. He took a bite of his apple as he let everyone process the information.

"Where'd you learn that?" Sigyn asked.

Loki shrugged. "I read about it."

"Why am I not surprised?" Jormungdr said sarcastically.

"Hey, books are hardly wrong. Knowledge is powerful," Loki made a point to look the green-haired boy directly in the eyes. Jormungdr looked away, suddenly very uncomfortable.

Hela cleared her throat in order to get everyone's attention. "That's a very sweet story and I don't mean to be rude, but we have more pressing matters at hand. Like, for starters, how are we going to rescue the souls? We can't just walk up to Thanos and demand him to hand them over."

"Actually, we could…," Fenris spoke up for the first time.

"Huh?" Hela paused.

"Thanos trusts you, right? _You_ can ask him to give you the souls. I doubt he'll say no, since he's into you and what-not," Fenris suggested.

"How do we know that will work?" Sigyn asked.

"We don't," Fenris stated flatly.

Hela sputtered. "So you're willing to risk my life in a plan that might not work? Yeah, I _definitely_ feel the love."

"You can't be killed, Hela," Fenris said.

"We don't know what Thanos is fully capable of with all the Infinity Stones, _Fenris_." Hela spat out the name like a curse.

"He can only use one stone at a time; you can handle it. Besides, he's in love with you."

Hela bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from shouting an angry response at her brother. She didn't stop glaring at him, though.

"It's a risky move," Sleipnir said. "We're not going to bargain someone's life for something like this."

"It's billions of innocent souls!" Fenris shot back.

"We are _not_ risking our little sister!"

"Thanos _won't_ hurt her!"

"How do we know?" Sleipnir questioned.

"If I wasn't positive he wouldn't hurt her, I wouldn't have suggested anything!"

"Maybe we can ask the Avengers for help," Hela suggested.

Loki dropped his apple he was about to bite into, and held up a finger. "No! No, no, no, NO!"

"Why not?" Hela protested.

"Because they hate me, that's why. They'll probably kill me on sight," Loki snapped.

"You're kind of already dead," Jormungdr stated and crossed his arms over his chest.

"And you don't think I realize that?" Loki choked out, suddenly very upset. Tears burned in his green eyes.

Jormungdr shrugged.

Sigyn held up her hands to stop the argument. "I understand that this a tough situation, but we can't be clawing at each other's throats. The last thing we need is someone storming off and doing something stupid. We need to work together if we want any chance to succeed," Sigyn said. She placed a hand on Loki's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Telling the Avengers is a good idea. They might be able to help."

"They don't trust me," Loki muttered, downcast.

"They will need to know anyways," Hela said. "Someone's gotta tell them. And, dad, you're our best bet."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Wakanda was in ruins. Dust blew up in the air, making it hard to see. The ground was littered with bodies, both alien and human. Those who survived were assembled in Shuri's lab.

Thor was staring out the window. The view was once beautiful, but the damage done to the city and heartbroken deaths of half the universe's population made the landscape seem like any other ordinary view.

It was quiet, except for the few sniffles and sobs coming from the group, until Bruce Banner broke the silence.

"What are we going to do now?" Bruce muttered to no one in particular.

Thor turned away from the window. The remaining Avengers and Rocket were sitting or standing in various places; all of them bruised, battered, and completely defeated.

"What is there left to do? We can find Thanos, but we are in no condition to fight," Thor pointed out.

"How do we even find Thanos?" Natasha asked from her spot standing next to Bruce.

"I'm sure Shuri can find a way," Bruce suggested.

"Shuri is not ready for that," the Wakandian warrior, Okoye, snapped and guestered the best she could toward the young girl. Shuri was crying into Okoye's shoulder ever since she heard the news about her brother. "None of us are."

"We can't let Thanos get away with what he did!" Bruce all but yelled.

"And how exactly are we supposed to stop him? You saw how powerful he was. There's no telling what else he can do," Natasha said calmly.

"I should have killed him when I had the chance," Thor muttered, causing everyone to stare at him. Thor shook his head regretfully. "I let my thirst for revenge cloud my judgment."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Thor. It's not your fault," Natasha assured.

Thor stared at her, his eyes misty. "Not everyone makes a mistake that impacts the survival of the universe."

Natasha looked away. Thor did have a point.

Rhodey spoke up for the first time since the battle. "What happened so that you wanted revenge on Thanos? Not to be rude, but you two haven't met before."

Thor took a deep breath before answering. "Thanos attacked our ship because it turned out that Loki had the Tesseract. He killed half of the remaining Asgardian civilians."

"Loki took the Tesseract? Why am I not surprised?" Rhodey said sarcastically.

Thor glared at his fellow Avenger. Natasha quickly stood up and placed herself in front of Rhodey. "It's likely that Loki would do something like that, but how did Thanos know he had it?" she asked.

Thor's anger melted away, only to be replaced by sadness. "Loki is connected to Thanos. During his time in the Void, he was being held captive by the Mad Titan. Thanos tortured my brother and gave him a 'mark' that connected the two together. Thanos could hear and see anything that Loki did," Thor explained.

"Oh," Natasha said quietly.

"Speaking of Loki, where is he?" Bruce asked. "The last I saw of him was on the ship before I was teleported away. You never did say what happened to him."

A tear suddenly slid down Thor's cheek. The whole group was slightly shocked; they had never seen Thor cry.

"T-Thanos k-killed him. L-Loki s-saved my life," Thor stuttered.

"I'm so sorry," Bruce muttered. That was not the answer he was expecting.

Thor smiled sadly, tears streaming down his faces. He didn't care that he was crying in front of his teammates. All he wanted was his brother back.

"After all these years, Loki still cared for me…," Thor continued, but nobody was listening. They were too focused on the sudden drop in temperature and flickering lights.

"...even when I thought that he was completely lost, he still came back-" Thor was suddenly cut off by a familiar voice.

"I always come back."

Shuri screamed at the smoky figure standing behind Thor. Steve and Natasha instinctively reached for their weapons and aimed them at the figure. Thor took a step back and summoned Stormbreaker.

"Of course I care; you're my brother," the figure added, it's form shifting to a more recognizable image.

"Loki?!" shouted many voices.

The person in question spread his arms and smiled. "In the flesh." Loki paused and furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Well, not really, since this is only my soul that you can see. Hela still has reapers looking for my body. For such a handsome body, it's really hard to find."

The whole group stood there in shock, several mouths hanging open. Thor was as still as a statue, even letting his axe slip from his hand and land with a 'thud on the floor.

"What? It looks like you've seen a ghost," Loki commented.

Thor swallowed a lump in his throat. "How-"

"Hela let me into the Veil so I could relay a message to all of you. Apparently she thinks that I'm the one who is perfect for telling you about everyone who 'died,' even though I'm basically your sworn enemy and probably _now_ the second most-wanted person in the universe," Loki explained, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"What?" Thor squeaked out.

"Thor just said you were dead!" Rocket shouted.

"Hela?! Your evil sister?!" Bruce questioned. Looks of confusion were exchanged among the group.

Loki held up his hands in defense. "Easy there, doctor. Hela is _not_ evil, nor is she our _sister._ She's the sweetest, most innocent girl I have _ever_ met, and I'd rather not have you make bad assumptions about my daughter," Loki said firmly.

"Daughter? Hela's your _daughter?!"_ Bruce exclaimed.

Loki rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yes, but it's a very long story that I don't have the time nor the willingness to share."

Bruce looked like he wanted to continue questioning, but one glance at the Trickster erased all thoughts of doing so.

Thor ran both his hands through his short hair. He took a small step towards his brother, but Loki held up a hand to stop him.

"If you touch me, you'll just go right through. As much as I wish you could; you won't be able to hug me," Loki said.

Thor's face dropped. "I _saw_ you die! How are you here?"

"What part of the word 'ghost' escapes your understanding?" Loki questioned.

Thor opened his mouth, but closed it quickly. "Are you safe?"

Loki nodded. "I'm staying in Valhalla. There was trial to see where I should go, but it was short. Most of the council members believed that I was, somewhat, innocent of my crimes."

"Can Thanos reach you? Does he know where you are?" Thor asked, worry heavy in his voice.

"We don't know. He could possibly find me, since he has the Soul Stone, but we aren't sure what he can do with it. I doubt he'll care; he does think I'm dead after all."

"Can the Soul Stone actually control souls?" Bruce asked.

"No, it can only control trees." Bruce looked confused, causing Loki to sigh. "Yes, the Soul Stone can control, find, and harness the power of souls."

"Well, if Thanos can do all of that; he could find you, right?" Bruce tried to ignore Loki's sarcasm.

"Unfortunately, yes. Ghosts are just souls who haven't crossed over into Valhalla or Helheim. I am one of them; and sadly, _he,_ can track my whereabouts in more than one way," Loki explained.

"Thor told us about your 'mark' thing," Rhodey added.

"It doesn't matter what _he_ could to do with me; what matters is the fact that these turned to ash _aren't_ dead," Loki said. The group, once again, was taken aback. "That's why I'm here. To tell you about the victims of the Snap. Hela had a team of reapers look for them. None of their souls have appeared in Valhalla, Helheim, nor in the Veil. That only means that they are trapped inside the Soul Stone."

"Can you see them? Are they alright? What about Bucky? Is he fine?" Steve blurted out.

"I'm not really sure who this 'Bucky' person is, but if he is in the Soul Stone, there's a chance that he might still be alive," Loki replied to a small sigh of relief from the Captain.

"Can we get them back?" Okoye asked.

"Hela is working on a rescue team as we speak. Since, _he,_ has a crush on my daughter, it's less likely that Hela will be attacked while entering and exiting the Soul Stone," Loki answered.

"Wait a minute," Bruce said. "Thanos has crush on your _daughter?!_ "

Loki clenched his mouth shut and glared at the doctor. Thor stepped in between the two. "I believe that part is not of importance right now. We need to focus. Stop worrying about petty details."

The doctor turned and sat back down on his chair. He folded his arms across his chest in an attempt to calm himself down.

Loki cleared his throat and looked away from Bruce. "I understand that this is a lot of information-"

"What makes you think we can trust you?" Natasha interrupted, causing Loki to face the former Russian spy.

"Excuse me?" Loki said.

"How do we know that you're not working for Thanos?"

"Do you really think that _I_ would work _freely_ for that-"

"There's a lot of things that I'm thinking right now, and you helping us is not one of them. You never help anyone freely, there's clearly something you want," Natasha continued.

"Natasha…" Steve tried to pull her back, but Natasha yanked her arm from his grasp and pointed a finger at the ghost.

"You hurt my best friend; turned him into a mind controlled freak. You _destroyed_ New York City and murdered thousands of innocent people. There are many things I don't forget, so don't come asking for our help when all you've done is cause chaos. I don't know what Thanos told you do say, but don't _ever_ think we're going to believe your little 'pitiful' story," Natasha practically growled.

The look on Loki's face should have been enough to warn the spy to shut up, but Natasha's anger had clouded her judgement.

"Thanos must pay really well to get you to cooperate. Or, maybe he offered you something. What is it? Thor dead at your feet? Infinite power? Recognition as king?" Natasha questioned. At this point, both Steve and Bruce were holding her back from the Asgardian. Thor was standing protectively next to Loki's side. "What did Thanos offer, huh?"

The last jeer snapped something inside of Loki. The dark-haired prince balled his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms. Anger flashed behind his green eyes. "Do you want to know what _he_ offered?! He offered me torture in return for my pain. He tortured me until I was on the brink of death, and then he had his healers fix me only to start over again. I had to endure a year of suffering because I refused to help him collect all of the Infinity Stones. He stole my dignity and he laughed when I screamed in pain. I begged him to stop, but he continued, only ceasing to heal me. He _loved_ it when I was broken and bleeding at his feet. And it wasn't just physical pain. He messed with my head; took away my feelings of love and replaced them with cold, hard anger. He turned me into a submissive slave, one who called him master and begged for forgiveness when I displeased him, in hopes that he would take pity on me. I wished for death, in fact I welcomed it with open arms, but he never killed me. He got pretty damn close to killing me, but he never did. I thought that he just enjoyed my suffering too much to kill of such an entertaining slave; right until I thought I free from his clutches. Right when I thought everything was going to turn out alright; right when I was happily rebuilding my relationship with my brother, _he_ took it away. He destroyed my chance at living happily ever after; with my girlfriend, kids, and my brother. So, tell me, Miss Romanoff, do you really think that I _want_ to work for _him?_ I'm not asking for you to believe me, but if there is a chance that we can kill or stop that bastard, I'm taking it. I never wanted Thor to get hurt. I never wanted to attack New York. I never wanted to be used like disposable animal. He ruined my life; I only wish for a chance to send his ass straight to Helheim," Loki choked out, his face red with tears pouring down his face.

It was silent for several, long minutes. Loki turned toward the window to wipe his tears. Natasha allowed Bruce to pull her down to a chair. Thor lifted a hand and tried to place it on Loki's shoulder, but it passed right through, causing Loki's form to ripple and almost dissolve before reformed again.

"What do we need to do?" Steve was the one to finally break the silence. It seemed like everyone silently agreed that they believed Loki, or at least give him a second chance.

Loki whispered in Thor's ear. Thor nodded and turned toward the group while Loki stood facing the window and hugging himself.

"My brother says that we need to be ready to go to Titan," Thor announced. "Hela should have reduced the souls by then. Thanos can only use one Infinity Stone at a time, since the Snap weakened him. That gives us an advantage. We are going to hit him with everything we got, so call up anyone who is willing to fight. This time, we're taking the fight _to_ him."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Dust billowed up in large puffs. The sandy ground shifted with the wind. The orange sky was clear, except for the occasional cloud. It was around noon, and the air was blistering hot.

Peter Parker woke up to someone gently shaking him. He suddenly bolted upright, almost hitting heads with a dark-haired man.

Peter squinted at the man; he looked familiar. The long hair, the beard...

"Jesus?" Peter asked, immitting a chuckle from the man. "Am I dead? Is this heaven? Wow, it's a lot different than I imagined. Where's all the angels? Why's the sky orange? Why does heaven look like a desert?" Peter gasped. "Am I in hell? This has to be hell!"

The man fully laughed this time. "It's not hell, but it's pretty darn close."

"What does that mean?" Peter asked.

The man extended a hand, which Peter gladly took and allowed himself to pulled to his feet.

"You're quite talkative, aren't you kiddo?" the man stated.

Peter took in his surroundings. The ground was flat where he was standing and had trees scattered around, but there were mountains to the east. There was a small stream that gurgled past the two, but that was the only source of water in sight. He could see nothing but miles of endless sand everywhere else.

He blinked sand out of his eyes and ran a hand through his tangled mess of hair. Something seemed off about the whole scenario. Maybe it was the orange sky and sand. Or maybe it was the fact that the man he was with was wearing green pants, a navy blue jacket, and army boots in place of what Peter assumed people in heaven would wear: togas and sandals. Instead of a regular arm, the man's left arm was made purely out of some kind of metal. Vibranium, maybe?

"You're not…"

"I'm James Barnes, but you can call me Bucky. We've met before. At the airport in Germany. You're Spider-Boy?"

"Spider-Man, and I'm an Avenger now, thanks to Mr. Stark!" Peter proudly announced and put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest.

Bucky laughed. "Alright, kid. Why would Tony Stark allow a twelve year old on a team of super powered adults?"

"I'm fifteen!" Peter pouted. "Nobody knows how old I am unless I tell them. Besides, nobody can see my face. They can't tell what my age is."

Bucky raised an eyebrow. "I can clearly see your face..."

"What?!" Peter shouted and started panicking. He tried to pull his helmet on, but it was stuck inside the suit. "Well, at least you don't know that my name is Peter Parker; so there!" Peter gasped and clamped both hands tightly over his mouth. "Did I just tell you my secret identity?"

"I'm afraid so," Bucky said.

"Dang it!" Peter shouted.

"Relax, kid. I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me."

Peter relaxed a bit. Bucky seemed like a trustworthy guy. "So, where are we?"

Bucky shrugged. "I don't know. The others are down in the valley if you want to join. Actually, you should join us. It's not safe being by yourself. Come on."

Bucky started walking down the hill and motioned for Peter to follow. Peter jogged to catch up.

"There are others?" Peter asked.

"Yeah. Sam, Wanda, Vision, T'Challa…"

"Oh! What are they doing here?"

"The same thing as you and me: stuck. We haven't found a way out or any other sign of human life. You're lucky I found you, since it's not safe after dark. We've been attacked by several different creatures already."

"But I felt like I was dying! I saw flakes of dirt come off me! How am I alive?"

"Like before, I don't know. The same thing happened to all of us. Nobody has an explanation. Plus, there's no way to contact Steve or Tony for help. We might just be on our own."

"Oh," Peter kicked a rock out of his way. He started to tear up. "Are we getting out? Are we going home? What about Aunt May? Or Ned? I have a life! I can't die out here! I should have listened to Mr. Stark and never boarded that ship…"

"Whoa, don't give up just yet. There's still a chance," Bucky stopped and looked Peter directly in the eyes. "If there's one thing I learned from my time in the army, is that you should never give up. Always keep fighting. Because if you quit, you're putting other people's lives at risk. Heroes don't quit. They keep fighting to find a way and then stick to the plan. We're going to make it out alive. I promise that I'll fight to get you home safely, even if it costs me my life," Bucky said firmly, determination blazing in his light blue eyes.

Peter smiled. "Thanks."

"It's my job, kid. Besides, you are too young to be dying just yet."

The rest of the walk was silent, except for the crunch of the sand under their feet. They reached the valley late in the afternoon. Peter could see makeshift tents built out of tree leaves and branches. They didn't look too sturdy, but at least it was some cover from the heat and sand.

A young woman strode from behind one of the tents. She smiled and waved at the two. Bucky raised his right hand in a salute and motioned for Peter to follow him.

They ducked under the first tent, and immediately the air felt cooler. Peter started to take his armour off, but Bucky stopped him.

"You might want to leave that on. We never know when we might be attacked. It's safer this way," Bucky said. Peter nodded and plopped down on the sandy floor.

The young woman from before peeked her head inside the tent. She had bruises hidden underneath her brown hair, and her face was covered in dirt.

"There's water and food if you want some," she said. She seemed rather tired for such a young person.

"Thanks Wanda," Bucky said.

Wanda backed out of the tent, only to re enter a second later.

"Oh, T'Challa said he wants everyone to meet an hour before sundown to discuss our situation. He's thinking that it might be safer if we find a different location to set up a more permanent camp," Wanda explained.

"Understood," Bucky said.

Wanda smiled and left.

Bucky dropped down to the ground and took of his boots. He turned one upside down and shook sand from it. He did the same with the other before putting them back on and unhooking his pistol from his belt. He started taking the gun apart to clean while Peter crawled closer to the older man.

"Are we for sure stuck?" Peter asked.

Bucky hesitated. He didn't want to scare the kid with the truth. "Not for sure. There's always a way."

Peter looked over Bucky's shoulder. Bucky flinched a bit when he felt Peter's chin touch his shoulder, but he stayed silent. "Why are you taking it apart? Don't you need it?"

Bucky wiped the gun down with his sleeve and loaded the magazine clip. "I'm cleaning it. You don't want a gun to misfire because it's dirty," Bucky explained. He turned to look at Peter. "Always keep your things clean and organized. It helps to know where things are during an emergency."

"Cool," Peter said. He stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm hungry. Where's the food?"

"In the biggest tent," Bucky pointed out of the entrance. Peter went off to find some food, leaving Bucky alone in thought. It was tough being here without a safe way out. He didn't want to be stuck here forever; he had just gotten the mind control that Hydra had put in his head cleared out. He was free from one evil, only to be captured by another.

The pistol was clean by the time Peter came back. The teenager was carrying two makeshift plates made out of bark piled with food. There wasn't much, just some water and a cooked animal that looked like a squirrel.

The two were just about ready to dig in, when Sam Wilson burst into the tent. He seemed anxious.

"T'Challa said we've got to get moving," Sam announced.

Bucky set down his food. "I thought we were leaving tomorrow."

"We were, but there is a group of creatures heading in our direction. The same creatures that attacked us last night. We barely won last time, remember? We're leaving now," Sam ordered and left immediately.

Bucky quickly stood up without a word, grabbed his gun, and helped Peter up. The two dashed out if the tent to where the rest of the group was waiting. Once everyone was accounted for, the victims of the Snap took off for a safer place.

It was tough tough trudging through the sand. Once in a while, someone would trip from exhaustion, but a teammate always helped him or her up.

The rain came around midnight. At first it felt nice to have the dust rinsed off, but after a while it was getting hard to see. The group was out in the open; they had left the cover of trees a few hours back, so everyone was soaked to the bone.

Peter stopped suddenly. He was tired, wet, cold, and hungry. He couldn't find the strength to continue. Bucky had walked a few paces forward before he realized that Peter wasn't at his side.

The rain was so heavy that Bucky could barely make out where Peter was, even though they were only a few feet apart.

"Are you okay?" Bucky asked as he ran to Peter's side.

"I'm tired," Peter complained.

Bucky looked over his shoulder; he couldn't see the rest of the team. "We can't stop. It's too dangerous out here."

"I know, but even with my powers, it's too tiring."

"I'm not leaving you out here alone and we can't get separated from the group. We have to keep pushing on." Peter's expression caused Bucky to continue. "Remember what I said earlier about heroes never quitting?"

Peter nodded.

"Well, this is one of those times. It might be tough, but it will make you stronger in the end," Bucky said. "How many kids your age can say that they fought aliens?"

"Not many," Peter muttered.

"That's right. Not many kids your age can say that they are an Avenger. You were born for this. You were _made_ to be an Avenger. And that is something special."

A smile slowly etched itself onto Peter's face. "Thanks."

"No problem. Come on, we've got to catch the others before they go too far ahead. I can give you a ride, if you're tired," Bucky offered. "You're probably too old for that, but if you can't walk…"

"Aren't you tired?" Peter asked.

"A little, but I can handle it. They don't have you carry eighty pound bags and hike fifty miles in the army for nothing."

Bucky knelt down and let Peter climb onto his back. Peter wrapped his legs around Bucky's waist and buried his head in Bucky's hair. Almost immediately, Peter drifted off to sleep.

Bucky adjusted Peter's weight to a more comfortable position and pushed on through the rain.

The rain didn't seem to be letting up and it was hard to see, but Bucky managed to catch up with the rest of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Sam caught sight of Bucky and Peter and dropped back to wait for them.

"Is he alright?" Sam asked, concerned for the young Avenger.

"He's tired," Bucky answered.

"Are you sure you can carry him _and_ defend yourself from an attack at the same time?"

"I'll manage." Bucky brushed past Sam and joined the big group. Sam rolled his eyes and trailed closely behind. He glanced back; suspicious of something. It felt like they were being watched.

Suddenly, a huge creature with blazing red eyes lunged out of the curtain of rain. It hard razor sharp claws and at least a ton of muscle. It growled, letting saliva drip from its mouth. Sam shouted and fell down, crushed beneath its weight.

Both teams of heroes turned to help their comrade. Peter Quill shot the creature, and it crumbled in a dirty heap. T'Challa helped Sam up and stared off into the rain. Dozens of red eyes stared back.

"Everybody fall into position!" T'Challa shouted.

Everyone fell into a circle, their weapons facing outward.

More and more of the bear-like creatures burst through the rain in a wave of fur and claws.

The heroes fought for their lives. Bucky had set Peter down in the middle of the circle and stood protectively of him. He had tried and failed to wake him; the poor kid was exhausted. Sam managed to get his mechanical wings to work and was flying around shooting the beasts, but the bullets just bounced off. Wanda and Vision were working together and had their side of the circle under control, but they were tiring. The heat and the battle against Thanos' army had tired everyone out. They had nothing left.

A large rumble suddenly shook the ground. The heroes barely had time to register before a flash of black and green appeared out of nowhere. The impact knocked both the heroes and the beasts alike off their feet. The rain stopped as well, and the heroes welcomed the warmth of the world's sun to dry them off.

A figure wearing tight, black with green accented armour stood up. It's cape of dark greenish-gray billowed out behind it. A sword glinted from the sunlight, showing off how sharp it was.

The beasts stumbled back to their feet and growled savagely at the newcomer. The figure raised its sword. Black fire engulfed the weapon. The figure paused a moment before plunging the sword into the ground.

A shockwave of black magic obliterated the beasts and left the heroes unscathed.

Everyone got shakily to their feet. Bucky helped a now awake Peter to his feet. He still remained in front of the boy, in a stance of protection.

The figure turned; it's smile friendly and inviting. The figure was that of a girl? young lady? a woman? It was hard to tell her age, but she was both strikingly beautiful and terrifying at the same time. She had high cheekbones set in a pale face. Her greenish-gray eyes shone brightly. Her jet-black hair blew gently in the breeze.

A small twist from her hand caused her sword to disappear. She raised her hands in an act of peace and smiled gently at Peter Parker.

"Who are you?" T'Challa questioned.

"I'm Hela, the Goddess of Death, Queen of Valhalla and Ruler of Helheim. And I'm here to take you home.

 **Part Three coming soon! School is starting soon, so I might be busier than I already am, but at least I can stop typing this on my phone and have an actual laptop for once. :)**


	3. Part Three: If You Love Me, Let Me Go

**So sorry about the long wait. I hope the length of this chapter/section thing will make up for it. I explore more characters' feelings and perspectives in this part, but it is still mainly a Loki, Thor, Sigyn, and Hela fanfic. There is more swearing and violence involved in this part. There is nothing too graphic, but be warned!**

 **Part Three: If You Love Me, Let Go**

 _Loki was tied down to a stone table. He tried to lift his head, but a hand pushed him back down._

 _It has been around a week since he had landed onto Thanos' Sanctuary; a week of Thanos asking for Loki's help to collect the Infinity Stones. Of course Loki had refused, and normally the Titan would become frustrated and leave him alone for the rest of the day, but Loki knew that the Titan's patience was wearing thin._

 _It came to no surprise that Thanos increased his hostility toward the young Asgardian with each refusal, but Loki was still slightly shocked to find himself tied down, spread-eagle, on a stone table._

 _He tried to loosen his bindings, but found no give. He could sense other creatures milling around him. At first, Loki thought the aliens, the Chitauri, were ugly. As the days passed, Loki learned not to anger them or do anything that would cause them to go scrambling to their master in order to have Thanos himself come and investigate the problem._

 _Loki had started to hate the purple alien. He was lucky, to say the least, to end up with only a few bruises from the punches and slaps that Thanos had inflicted on him._

 _That was it. Just slaps and an odd punch or kick, nothing else. Thanos never tried anything too harsh; his bruises always healed. So why was he tied down in an unfamiliar room?_

 _Loki got his answer soon enough. Footsteps approached the table, and an ugly face peered into Loki's. The alien was holding what looked like a needle attached to a small tube._

 _The alien stood over Loki and pressed the tip of the needle Loki's chest, right above the heart._

 _On instinct, Loki tried to move away, but the needle breached his skin. He flinched at the small poke and watched as black ink dripped out of the needle and right into his skin._

 _A tattoo? Loki had heard of mortals getting tattoos, and few Asgardians had one, but he never even thought about getting one himself._

 _The Chitauri alien kept moving the needle around the left side of Loki's chest. The ink left a pattern of geometrical shapes, swirls, and some letters of an ancient language._

 _It took a few hours before the tattoo was done. The tattoo completely covered the left side of his chest, and looped around to the top of his left shoulder and arm. A circle with a smaller circle inside covered the top of his arm. Four smaller circles connected by an X, which met in the middle of the smallest circle. A square boxed in the X and circles. Ancient letters adorned the outside on each side of the square. The design, Loki later found out, was called the "Mark of Thanos."_

 _The alien backed off, only to be replaced by another, purple alien._

 _Loki felt himself being lifted to a sitting position, the chains never leaving his wrists._

 _Thanos was standing in front of him, a twisted smile on his face. Loki fought the urge to struggle against the chains._

" _What was that for?" Loki demanded, clearly referring to his new tattoo._

" _Since you are stuck here, and one way or another you_ will _follow my orders, I gave you my 'Mark.' All of my servants and followers have one; it's only fair that you get one too," Thanos explained._

" _What if I don't want to listen to you?" Loki spat out._

" _You will, eventually."_

 _A shaky laugh escaped Loki's lips. "I am_ not _one of your followers."_

" _Not yet, anyway. Besides, I gave you something special." Thanos motioned toward Loki's stomach. Loki looked down and found another, smaller, tattoo. The black tip of a thin triangle pointed up, just below his belly button; the rest disappearing beneath the waistband of his pants._

" _I gave that to you when you were asleep. The tattoo on your chest is a mark of servitude. The other one is special. Only a select few have it. You were just too wonderful to pass up on. The tattoo is a symbol for my own, personal slaves. I keep them for...entertainment."_

 _Loki swallowed._

" _We are connected through the 'Mark,':" Thanos continued. "I can see where you are at and read your thoughts. It can disappear, only to reappear when I call on you. There's no way to trick me out of my Infinity Stones."_

 _Tears formed at the corners of Loki's eyes. He was stuck. There was no way out of this. He was bound to serve Thanos, willingly or not._

" _Now, shall we begin our fun for today?" Thanos asked. Four Chitauri aliens stepped up to the table, each standing at a corner. "My offer of power and safety in return for the Infinity Stones still stands. Are you sure you want to refuse that?"_

" _Yes," Loki said stubbornly._

" _I knew you were going to say that," Thanos grumbled to himself. To Loki, he said: "I gave you shelter and food, for what? Cold, hard refusal!"_

" _You plan to wipe out half the universe with the Stones! What else did you expect?" Loki shot back._

 _Thanos was inches away from Loki's face in one, long stride. "Do not bite the hand that feeds you," Thanos quoted._

 _Loki glared in response. "What is my life in comparison to all of those going to be murdered by you?"_

 _A sharp slap to the cheek shocked Loki into silence. Thanos turned away from his prisoner, his hands clasped behind his back._

" _My patience wears thin. I tire of waiting for your answer to change."_

 _Loki spit out a mouthful of blood. "Why don't you ask one of your many 'followers' to help you instead?" Loki couldn't keep the snark out of his voice._

 _Thanos was back at his side. The Titan trailed a finger over Loki's tattoo. "I could, but you have power, immense power. That, mixed with your cunning and wit, could win wars. You could bring me the Stones without breaking a sweat. I could also collect the Stones myself, but you are disposable. I'd rather lose a powerful ally then lose my own life."_

 _Loki gritted his teeth and pulled away from Thanos' touch. "I'm flattered that you think I'm powerful, but my answer is still no."_

" _I don't understand why you were not crowned king. Asgard needs a powerful leader. Too bad your idiotic brother is going to be king, not you," Thanos said, switching tactics._

" _If you are trying to make me feel upset because I wasn't king, it's not working. I never wanted the throne; Thor just wasn't ready for it."_

 _Anger flashed in Thanos' cold, black eyes. "You will be a tough one to break. It will be enjoyable, no doubt, but everyone has a breaking point. You_ will _beg for mercy after I'm through with you. You will long for death, beg for it. This will be the last time you will ever be safe from my wrath. Here on out, there is no life for you other than_ pain _."_

/\

"Loki! Loki, wake up!" Sigyn's voice pierced into Loki's dream. He sat up and looked around. He was back in the room he shared with Sigyn, but the sky was bright not dark.

"You were shaking and mumbling in your sleep," Sigyn said. "Are your nightmares getting worse?"

"They seem to be more vivid. I can feel physical pain," Loki answered.

Sigyn blinked. "You can feel physical pain?"

Loki nodded.

"Loki, that's not normal! Why didn't you tell me?" Sigyn exclaimed.

"I didn't want you to worry. I thought it would go away, but it's getting worse."

Sigyn suddenly grabbed hold of Loki's left arm. She ran a hand gently over it. His skin was bright red where his tattoo was, but the black ink wasn't visible.

"What?" Sigyn gasped. "How?"

Loki gently pried his arm away. He absentmindedly rubbed his shoulder. "I don't know," he lied.

"I'll figure it out later, right now you need to eat," Sigyn said. "You must be starving."

"What time is it?" Loki asked and stood up.

"Nearly noon. You went asleep right after you came back from Wakanda."

"I'm not hungry," Loki muttered and shuffled his way towards the bathroom.

Sigyn placed her hands on her hips. "Loki, you used a lot of energy to visit Wakanda. You need to get it back if we are to take down Thanos. Even...even the dead need to eat and sleep," Sigyn scolded.

Loki stopped, his hand resting on the door to the bathroom. He turned to look at Sigyn.

"Fine."

"Good. Get dressed." Sigyn spun on her heel and strode out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Loki rubbed his shoulder again and looked in the mirror. The redness was fading, but the faint sting of getting a new tattoo was still there.

Loki sighed and changed into a loose fitting pair of his clothes. He combed his hair quickly and went to join Sigyn in the palace's dining room.

Sigyn was accompanied by Sleipnir, Jormungandr, Fenris, Hela, and a white-blonde haired man. They were standing near the center table, tense and nervous.

"I'll be fine," Hela was saying. "It'll be tough, but I can handle it."

"Are you sure that you want to go alone? It's dangerous. It will be safer having backup," Sleipnir said.

Hela smiled at her oldest brother, but she was clearly tired of hearing about how dangerous entering the Soul Stone was.

Loki gave her an encouraging smile and sat down on a chair. He picked an apple and watched the group argue.

"I know how dangerous it is, but having more than one Asgardian in the Stone is more risky. Thanos trusts me. How will he respond if I came with you or anyone else?" Hela questioned. "Besides, you need to be here for our plan to work."

Fenris raised his hand. "How are you going to enter the stone?" he asked.

"A portal and a little bit of dark magic. It'll be too risky to keep it open, so we'll have to close the portal and reopen it once I found all the souls. It will be tough and tiring, but we can't keep the portal open because Thanos might notice and trap us in there," Hela explained. "Remember, I'm going to rescue the innocent civilians first. You need to stay here to open the Gates of Valhalla and let them rest here until this entire 'Thanos business is done. I'll have to rescue the Avengers and Guardians who are trapped in the Stone after that."

"After that, we're going to attack Thanos at his home, right?" Fenris asked.

"Yes. We will let the civilians go back to the Land of the Living once Thanos is taken care of." Hela turned to the white-blonde haired man. "Pietro, you are in charge of everything until I get back. Vincent will help if you have any questions. We will only open the Gates if we need an army or something."

"Got it," the dead Avenger, Pietro Maximoff, said.

"Wait for my word, and then we will attack Thanos," Hela ordered.

Everyone nodded. Hela stepped forward, facing the giant, double doors of the dining room. Sleipnir closed his eyes and stretched both hands toward the doors. Navy blue static sparked off his hands and shot forward. The magic outlined the doors and filled the opening with white-blue light which pulsed and rippled.

"Dad," Hela said.

Loki stood up and placed a hand on Hela's shoulder. Sleipnir copied him and kept his free hand raised. Loki squinted and raised his left hand. Green magic joined the blue light, the two colors mixed and swirled into a circle. The circle opened and a sandy landscape could be seen on the other end of the portal.

"Be careful," Pietro called from behind Hela.

"I will, cutie," Hela replied.

Loki reached in front of Hela and placed his hand flat against Sleipnir's.

"If it gets too dangerous, come straight back," Loki said and bent to whisper in Hela's ear. Hela nodded in response.

"On three. One. Two. Three!" Loki shouted.

Immediately Loki pulled his hand away from Sleipnir, breaking the energy circle. The released energy pulled Hela forward into the portal, and closed in a flurry of green and blue sparks.

Sigyn rushed to catch Loki before he collapsed.

"We only have to do that a few more times," Loki muttered and allowed himself to be led to a chair.

Sleipnir was looking paler than usual. "Who knew that opening a portal into an Infinity Stone would be that hard?"

Everyone nodded.

"Rest up and eat. You need your strength back," Sigyn told Sleipnir and Loki. She took a seat next to Loki. Fenris and Pietro sat down too.

Jormungandr, however, remained standing. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at Pietro.

"Is anyone else concerned that Hela called Pietro 'cutie?'" he asked.

Fenris looked up. "Jormungandr, they've been dating since Pietro died."

"But he's older than her!"

"Hela is technically younger, yes, but at the same time she is hundreds of years older than him. Plus, he's dead. He can't age," Fenris pointed out.

"He's human!" Jormungandr protested.

"And he's right here and can hear you," Pietro said. "Your dad is fine with me dating his daughter."

"She's a little young yet, but you are a good man. I trust you," Loki added in Pietro's defense.

"If you break her heart, I will break your face," Jormungandr threatened.

"Stop threatening people, Jormungandr," Sigyn scolded.

Jormungandr huffed angrily and sat down.

"Does everyone understand what you have to do?" Sigyn asked.

The group nodded.

"Good. Thanos won't know what hit him."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

He was exhausted. Sending Hela to the Soul Stone and back was tiring. They had managed to save all of the victims of the Snap. They were currently safe in Valhalla; highly confused, but safe.

Hela said it would take a few hours to rescue the dusted Avengers and Guardians. She had ordered him to rest up until she was ready to be brought back.

Loki plopped down on the bed and laid down on his back. He stared up at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts.

He knew that he would need his strength to open the portal one more time, but he couldn't fall asleep. His mind kept wandering back to their plan. It was a risky one, to say the least. Thanos was a tough opponent; even without the gauntlet, he was powerful.

Powerful and merciless. Thanos rarely showed compassion towards anyone. It was shocking to find out that he had sacrificed his "daughter," Gamora, for the Soul Stone. She was trapped in the Stone, as well.

Loki knew that in order to wield the Soul Stone, he or anyone else would have to kill a loved one in exchange for its power. Most couldn't bring themselves to do it. Only the heartless would sacrifice a loved one for power, but even then they usually regretted it. Loki knew that if he had a chance to wield the Soul Stone, he wouldn't do it. He loved his girlfriend, kids, and brother too much to throw that away for cursed power.

The Infinity Stones were a curse. They corrupted everything they touched. Thanos could have easily made more resources instead of killing half of the population, but he was too caught up in the thirst for power and a chance to win over Hela's hand in marriage.

Not many knew about Thanos' crush. Hela kept quiet about it; so quiet that Thanos didn't know that Loki was her father. Hela hated Thanos, saying that he was 'too grabby and insane' for her liking. She never liked it when people died, but Thanos thought that the only way to appeal to her was by killing innocent people and presenting their corpses to her. Hela always ending up burying the dead victims, but she tried to play along with him and slowly talk him out of killing half the universe. Thanos obviously didn't listen and he was too stupid to realize that one should never, ever piss Hela off.

Rescuing the victims from the Soul Stone was one small way that Hela could get back at Thanos, but they were a long ways away from actually defeating him.

Loki hoped that the combined forces of the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, a few Asgardians, and if need be, the entire population of Valhalla, could defeat Thanos once and for all.

A knock in the door shook Loki from his thoughts. He must have drifted off because the "sun" was high in the sky. It was morning when they had sent Hela back to rescue the heroes.

Loki sat up. "Is something wrong?"

"No, but I thought you should know that the Avengers seem to be agreeing to your plan and making preparations to head to Titan," Sigyn said, leaning against the door post. "It's a good thing that they trust you."

"Yeah, for now," Loki scoffed.

"Well, at least until we take care of Thanos," Sigyn added. "It will be around evening when we need you to reopen the portal. Rest up."

Sigyn gently closed the door behind her, leaving Loki, once again, alone with his thoughts.

/\

 _Screams could be heard as the Chitauri soldier drew the whip across Loki's bare back._

 _"What one was that?" Thanos questioned from his spot in front of Loki._

 _"One hundred and ninety-six" Loki choked out. He was tied down with his stomach flat against a stone slab. His legs hung off the edge and were chained to little hooks on the ground._

 _"Keep track," Thanos ordered._

 _The Chitauri soldier let the whip hit Loki again._

 _"One hundred and ninety-seven," Loki mumbled, his vision was slowly starting to go black._

 _Whip._

 _"One hundred and ninety-eight."_

 _Whip._

 _"One hundred and ninety-nine."_

 _Whip._

 _"Two hundred."_

 _"Good. Stop." Thanos took the whip whip from the soldier. The soldier bowed and exited the dark room._

 _Thanos moved behind Loki. Loki whimpered as a hand pushed his chest further into the Stone slab. The contact reopened wounds from his two hundred whippings on his chest._

 _"You are pathetic," Thanos said. "You are too stubborn to accept my offer, and here you are: tied up and bleeding. Are you sure to don't want to change your mind?"_

 _"No" was Loki's reply._

 _Thanos growled and placed his hands on either side of Loki. He leaned over Loki's back and whispered in his ear._

 _"You made a fatal mistake, Asgardian."_

 _Thanos, still bent over Loki, wrapped a huge hand around Loki's throat. Loki gasped as his head was jerked back and his air cut off._

 _"Try refusing me now."_

 _Loki struggled to breath. He could feel Thanos shift behind him. A sudden wave of pain rushed through his body, causing him to go limp._

 _"Don't forget, my pet. I. Own. You."_

 _/\_

Loki sat up and held back a scream. He could feel pain coursing through his veins. It felt like his nerves were fire.

Loki jumped out of bed and spirited to the bathroom. He lifted up his top to find his tattoo pulsing angrily; the black ink appearing and disappearing rapidly.

"Shit," Loki cursed. He bent down to splash cool water on his face, but the pain and the heat still remained.

Loki stood back up and looked into the mirror. His skin was slowly starting to turn blue. He splashed more water onto his face, but the water instantly froze.

"My pet," Thanos' voice boomed from nowhere in particular.

How odd. Thanos wasn't here…

Loki gasped and back against the opposite wall. He stared in horror as Thanos' face appeared in the mirror.

"Even in death you still try to betray me," Thanos growled.

"How?" Loki whispered.

"I own you, my pet. I am connected to you. I hear your thoughts. I thought that by killing you, the chance of me dying would decrease," Thanos growled. "Apparently I have made a mistake. You are much more enjoyable alive." Orange light started pouring from the mirror, turning the air hazy. The light reached toward Loki, pulling him in a tight embrace.

Loki screamed as he was enveloped in a orange light. A second later, he was gone.

The only indication that someone was there was the Mark of Thanos burned into the wall.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"How can we be sure that he's telling the truth? What if he is lying?" Rhodey questioned.

The remaining Avengers and Rocket were gathered in Shuri's lab. The kid genius had somehow managed to pull up a hologram picture of the universe. How she had found a map of the universe was beyond everyone, including Thor.

"We have to trust him. My brother is no threat to us right now; Thanos is. Thanos is our main priority, and you saw how he much he hates Thanos," Thor stated defensively.

Natasha scoffed. "Of course you defend him. He's your brother. Plus, how do you think Clint will react when finds out that we are listening to Loki's plan; who, by the way, mind controlled him."

Thor sighed and leaned against a table. Shuri shooed him away and started fiddling with the technology sitting on there.

"Loki may not be entirely trustworthy, but he's dead. He can't harm us, even if he tried. As far as I know, he hasn't come back as a vengeful spirit. He can't touch us and we can't touch him," Thor said.

"He came here to talk to us. How is that not considered a ghost?" Rocket asked, irritation heavy in his voice.

"There's a difference. He came as a peaceful spirit, one who only ventures into the Land of the Living when they need to send a message. They are harmless and can do nothing other then send the message they came here for. Usually the Queen of Valhalla would send a reaper or visit herself, but I'm sure that they are rather busy there," Thor explained.

"The Queen of Valhalla?" Shuri asked, setting down a bundle of wires and metal only to pick up another. Rocket was also toying with the Wakandian technology. Having something to do seemed to help keep their minds away from their losses.

"Hela, my niece. Loki's daughter." Thor held up a hand before Bruce could asked. "We were cursed to forget about Loki's children. Yes, children. He has three older boys. Hela is the only girl. Its complicated."

"How do we know we can trust Hela? I assume she is working with Loki, or Thanos? None of them are good people. You saw what Hela did to Asgard. Even if Loki wants to help, his kids might not," Bruce pointed out.

"I highly doubt that," Thor said. "Loki is different. I haven't seen his kids in centuries, but I'm sure that they grew up to know that mass murders are bad."

"Loki didn't think so," Rhodey muttered under his breath, but Thor could hear.

"My brother has history with Thanos. I doubt that he wanted innocent people getting hurt or killed. I admit that he wasn't entirely sane when we fought on the Bifrost, but you didn't fight him, I did. I saw the look on his face. He had given up. He let go with the full intention to die. Loki is smart. He wouldn't have teamed up with a murderer willingly." Thor stared out the window. The sun was setting. They had been in the lab since noon. "Loki had changed when he attacked New York. He never was one for fighting. He preferred to sit in his room alone and read or practice his magic. He hated fighting. I have a feeling that he isn't telling us the whole truth. Something else must have happened when he was in the Void; something that Thanos did to him."

"Captain," Bruce said to Steve. Steve was sitting on a chair; unnaturally silent about the situation. "It's your call."

Steve stood up and looked around at the group. Everyone had bags under their eyes and were still covered in dirt and blood from the battle.

"Thor is right. We might not be able to trust Loki, but right now he's our best bet. Thanos is a bigger concern. If something happens-if Loki is working with Thanos-we will deal with it when the time comes. Right now we need to focus on who is willing to help us fight. Contact Clint and every available hero or soldier who wants to help. This plan of Loki's has some risks, but they are risks that have a better outcome. Everyone rest up and we will face Thanos tomorrow," Steve ordered. "Now, has anyone been in contact with Tony?"

/\

Tony was exhausted. He had just watched a teenager die in his arms. Peter was his responsibility. How had he let him board the ship without his knowing? How was he supposed to tell Peter's aunt that her nephew was never coming back? How could he live with the guilt that he had was so close to ending the biggest threat in history, but ended up with a minor dead? The kid could barely drive! Why was he so stupid to think that despite the superpowers, the kid had zero experience and Thanos didn't care who he killed?

Tony groaned as he shifted his weight. The stab wound wasn't mending very well and he could barely walk. The blue alien girl let him lean against her for support, but she was tired and lost too.

"What now?" Tony coughed out.

The blue girl gritted her teeth. "We kill him."

The blue alien girl scared and fascinated Tony at the same time. He didn't know if it was because of her mechanical parts or her willingness to murder anyone who got her way for revenge.

"T-That's wonderful," Tony muttered. He also wanted to kill Thanos for what he had done, but he wasn't so confident in his answer. He wasn't even sure what to do next. Should he go back to Earth or follow this alien girl around. She seemed to know what she was doing. "I never got your name."

"Nebula," the girl said flatly. They were near the Black Order's ship. Somehow it was still intact and looked capable of flying.

"I'm Tony Stark. You may know me…" Tony said, trying to make small talk.

"Never heard of you," Nebula responded and opened the door to the ship. She helped Tony climb inside and gently lowered him to the ground. Tony grunted and clutched at his wound. At least the bleeding had stopped.

Nebula came back with what looked like a First-Aid Kit. She wrapped the bandages around his stomach.

"Thanks," Tony said. Nebula glared at him in response and stood up. "A simple 'your welcome' isn't that hard," Tony pushed.

"I'm not feeling very welcome right now, so maybe you should shut your stupid, ass mouth and actually help get this ship flying," Nebula snapped. She spun on her heel and stomped off to the control console.

"Nice to meet you too," Tony muttered to himself. He pulled himself to a standing position and wobbled over to the scary, blue alien girl.

"Where exactly did you say we were go to again?" Tony asked once he reached the control console. He leaned heavily against the center device and stared out the windshield. Dust was blowing through the air. He didn't know if it was the sand or the dusted Guardians or both. Tony shivered at the thought.

"I didn't say we were going anywhere. Right now we're stuck if you don't get this thing running." Nebula gave the center console an angry kick.

"I don't know how to control this. Its all new to me," Tony said.

"Don't you have technology like this on Earth?" Nebula asked.

"Well, we do..."

"But?"

"But, this will take some time getting used too," Tony answered.

"Figure it out then!" Nebula shouted.

Tony jumped a bit at the sound and hurried up his pace. He didn't want the scary, blue alien girl hurting him or doing something that would cause this situation to become worse.

After a few minutes of fumbling around with the control console, Tony finally found the "start/on" button and pressed it. The ship came alive with a roar of the engines. Even more dust billowed up outside. Tony hit the thrusters and the ship shot out into space with a sudden jolt.

"Houston, we have liftoff!" Tony exclaimed, his excitement masking his hurt. He turned to see if he got a reaction from Neblue. No response.

"Are we heading?" Nebula asked. The stars flew by in streaks of light.

"Hopefully to Earth. There, we can get backup so we can-"

"Kill Thanos?" Nebula interrupted.

Tony paused. "Uh, yeah…"

"Good."

Tony turned his focus back to controlling the large ship. He was still upset about the turnout of things. He knew he needed help if there was any chances remaining at defeating Thanos, but his relationship with half of the Avengers was still a bit shaky. Tony knew that Steve was probably his best bet, but he wasn't ready to talk to him yet.

"Guess I don't have any other choice," Tony thought sourly. Maybe they could fix their relationship as friends once this whole nightmare was over.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Where are we going? Are you Asgardian? I've never really met an Asgardian, but you look like one," Peter Parker asked, his questions jumbling over each other as he asked them breathlessly. He had been talking nonstop since their battle with the bear-like creatures.

Hela turned to look at the teenage Avenger. Normally this much talking would annoy her, but Norns, he was an adorable sweetheart!

"We are going to Valhalla. From there, I will take you back to Earth. And yes, I am Asgardian," Hela answered.

"Really?! Are you related to Thor?" Peter asked, his cute brown eyes shining with excitement.

"Yes. He's my uncle. Loki is my dad," Hela said and surveyed the area. She could see nothing but sand. Where was the portal to Valhalla? Surely her brother and dad would've opened it by now. She had sent out the signal; she was sure of it.

"Wait," the soldier known as Bucky Barnes caught up with the two. He held up a hand, the human one, Hela noted. "Loki has a daughter? The Loki that attacked New York?"

"Yes," Hela said a little too harshly. Bucky took a step back. Hela tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear and glanced behind her. The group of Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy were trailing closely behind, all of them on high alert for more attackers. She noticed T'Challa eyeing her closely, so she turned back towards Bucky. "It's complicated."

"How is it complicated? Did Loki send you?" Bucky pressed. "Can you be trusted?"

"Loki is dead!" Hela shouted, losing her temper. "I want revenge on Thanos for killing him and trapping everyone here. Trust me or not, I'm your only way out of here. It would be highly recommended that you don't make me even more upset then I already am!"

Bucky wisely stayed silent, but he moved to position himself protectively between Hela and Peter.

A green skinned woman jogged up to Hela's side. She looked concerned. "I never knew that Loki had a daughter," the woman said.

"Nobody does," Hela replied dryly, still on the lookout for signs of a portal opening.

"I knew Loki. Well, I saw him from time to time. I assume you know what my father did to him?" the green skinned woman asked.

Hela raised an eyebrow. "Your father? You mean Thanos, right?"

"Yes. Adopted father." The woman shrugged. "He kidnapped me and raised me as his own. I'm Gamora, by the way."

"Hela, and yes I knew. That's why Thanos needs to be taken down."

"Thanos mentioned something about a woman he was in love with. He called her 'death,' and she had black hair. You seem to fit his description," Gamora pointed out.

"Unfortunately, I do. And he made a mistake of doing so."

"I know that your father is innocent," Gamora said. "I want to believe that you are too."

"Thanks?" Hela said. Seriously, where was this portal?

"Is there still a chance at beating Thanos?" a dusty-blonde haired man asked, his red leather jacket fanning out behind him from the hot wind.

"My intel says that he broke the gauntlet after the snap. As far as we know, he can only use one stone at time. That gives us an advantage," Hela explained.

"Good," the man smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He seemed distracted.

Hela stopped walking. She stared up into the sky. "Come on! Dad? Sleipnir? Open the portal!"

"What's wrong?" Gamora asked.

"The portal isn't opening," Hela explained and paused. Dust swirled through the air as several creatures made their way over a hill. Hela saw Bucky reach for Peter and pull him closer.

Hela summoned a sword into her right hand. Something was off about the newcomers. "We have incoming!" she shouted.

The group tensed up and stood in a battle ready stance. The well trained heroes watched as the creatures grew closer. Four figures rose from the dust.

A voice rang out from the distance. "Have no fear! Your time has come to meet death. We will not tolerate prisoners escaping."

"Dammit," Hela swore. She knew that voice. The last thing they needed was the freaking Black Order showing up.

"Back off and leave us alone, you dumb pieces of shit!" the man in the red leather jacket shouted.

"Peter Quill!" Ebony Maw stepped forward, looking as ugly and disgusting as usual. He had his hands folded into a steeple; his feet never touching the ground as he floated over to the group. "We must thank you for allowing us to accomplish our goal."

"You can stick your thanks up your shriveled ass!" Peter Quill called back. Gamora stuck out an arm and pulled him back in the group.

"Shut up for once!" Gamora hissed. "Talking back only makes it worse."

"True that," Hela thought, but distraction by talking was probably their safest option. As a child of Loki, she was born with a silver-tongue. She stepped forward. "I thought you were dead," Hela said to Ebony Maw, trying to dissuade him from attacking the group.

Ebony smiled. The other supposedly dead members of the Black Order stood around him. "Hela. Nice seeing you here. I must admit, I never thought you were one for 'rescue missions.'"

"Guess its a day for surprises," Hela snapped back and raised her sword. "Now, I'm only going to say this once. Back off or die!"

"Oh, technically we are already dead," Ebony Maw continued in his stupidly soothing voice.

"Are you? You could always be deader. Like, so dead that your filthy soul is stuck in Helheim, where is belongs, forever."

Ebony Maw motioned with a wave of his hand, and the Black Order attacked.

Well, as if this day could get any worse.

Hela lunged forward and sank her sword into the nearest member of the Order's, Ebony Maw, chest. He whispered a few words which caused Hela to scream and let go of the sword to clutch at her head.

"Thanos' lover, hm. Trying to betray him, aren't you?" Ebony pulled the sword out and tossed it to the side. Bucky shot him, but the bullets had no effect. Ebony waved his hand, sending Bucky flying into a nearby sand dune.

"Get out of my head!" Hela ordered. She struggled to stand up, but a wave of telepathic magic pushed her back down.

She dimly noted that the others had split off into smaller groups and were taking on the other members of the Black Order, all of which were outnumbered but still beating the heroes.

Gamora jumped and swung her sword at Ebony's head. Ebony ducked and yanked on the woman's leg, swinging her down into the ground, hard.

Hela shook her head in an attempt to get Ebony's grasp on her brain off. She reached for her sword, but Ebony kicked it away. He pulled on her hair, forcing her to look up.

"My master will be pleased to hear that we captured his lover," Ebony crooned.

"I'm hardly his lover. Never even kissed the guy, let alone do the dirty with him," Hela growled, her green-gray eyes flashing dangerously.

"He will still be pleased. You will come with us so you can be reunited with your future husband." Ebony Maw pulled Hela to a standing position. Hela gasped as her hair was yanked harshly. "Anything that you want to say before we leave?"

"Yeah," Hela whispered in a low voice. "Go to Helheim!"

The young Asgardian twisted in Ebony's grasp and gripped him by the head. Black energy surged from her hand into the alien's skull. Ebony Maw screamed as the energy burned through his body, causing black light to stream from his eyes and open mouth. His body started smoking, and in a blink, exploded into a pile of ash.

The remaining members of the Black Order stopped their assault on the heroes and watched their teammate disintegrate. Proxima Midnight even took a small step away from Hela.

"Anyone else who wants to stand in my way?" Hela taunted, her sword gleaming in the hot sun.

The heroes stood in shock at the Asgardian girl. Most of them had looks of terror and awe on their faces.

"How in the world-" Peter Quill began, but cut himself off. He shook his head in confusion. "Thank goodness that you are on our side. Imagine what you could do Thanos. You can do that to Thanos, right?"

Hela ignored Peter Quill's question and focused on the Black Order.

"Like I said before, back off and leave us alone!"

This time, nobody challenged her...by themselves. Fueled by rage and the loss of their comrade, the Black Order attacked Hela from all directions. The heroes were too stunned to react as the Goddess of Death was unfairly outnumbered and seemingly overpowered by three other aliens. Hela fought with all her strength, blocking blows with her sword and natural flexibility. Despite being stabbed through the chest by Proxima Midnight's weapon, Hela still stayed on her feet. After a few long minutes of defense, Hela switched to offense; her immortality keeping her safe and invulnerable. She planted a hand on Black Dwarf's head and powered up her magic. As she slowly dissolved Black Dwarf, she fought off Proxima Midnight with her free hand.

Black Dwarf growled and tried to shake off Hela, but the girl's grip was too strong. Within seconds, Black Dwarf was nothing but a pile of ashes. Corvus Glaive swung his glaive at Hela's neck. Most people would be decapitated with a swing of that much force, but the sharp weapon only stunned Hela. Hela spun around and yanked the glaive from Corvus. She held it up, the point aimed at the married couple.

Corvus Glaive stepped in front of his wife. Proxima glared daggers at the Asgardian girl. Both aliens were infuriated about getting beaten by a, not even, a teenage girl.

"You can't kill me. My life force is connected with my weapon," Corvus Glaive jeered.

Hela glanced at the weapon in her hands. "Oh, you mean this thing?" She twirled it in her hand and thrust it at Corvus. The point sank in deep, causing the alien to stumble backwards. He would have fallen if Proxima wasn't there to catch him.

"You fool. You gave him the only thing that his life is tied too," Proxima laughed and held up her husband.

"Are you sure about that?" Hela asked innocently. As Corvus wrapped a hand around the hilt of the weapon to pull it out, Hela dove in to wrench the weapon out and used it to slice at Proxima. Proxima fell and clutched at her wound, black blood pouring out from her side.

"Corvus! Assist me!" Proxima shouted, but was cut off as she turned to ash. Corvus screeched in rage as his wife of many years die in front of him. Hela turned around faster than Corvus could react and plunged the glaive up, to the hilt, into the alien. Black smoke swirled around the weapon and into Corvus. His body went slack as the magic took over, dissergrating his body cells faster than the speed of sound. Soon, the weapon and himself were gone.

Hela stepped back from the pile of ashes. She was tired from using her 'death touch' so often. She teetered in place and was caught by Gamora before she hit the ground.

"You saved us," Gamora whispered.

"Not entirely. We still need to get out of here," Hela replied, black spots dancing in front of her eyes.

"How did they get here? I thought they were dead?" Sam Wilson asked.

"I don't know," Hela said. Gamora lowered her to the ground. Hela rubbed at her eyes and pushed sweaty strands of hair from her face.

"I am Groot!" said Groot, the adorable tree creature presented a yellow flower to Hela. Hela took it gratefully, although she didn't know what the purpose of it was for, and smiled.

"At least they're gone," Peter Quill added.

Hela held the flower in both hands; the flower somehow giving her some energy. A yellow light shone from the center of the petals. Hela sneezed as the pollen drifted away in the wind. She hauled herself to her feet and muttered ominously: "This battle is far from over."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Earth was in chaos by the time Tony Stark and Nebula arrived in Wakanda. Tony had to admit that he was looking forward to being back home, but the damage was too much to bear. He was barely out of the ship when he was surrounded by so many familiar faces.

"Tony!" shouted Bruce. The two scientist friends embraced in a tearful hug.

Tony pulled back and looked Bruce in the eye. "Did the same thing happen to you too?"

The grim expression on Bruce's face said it all.

"It was bad. We try to stop him, and we failed," Bruce cried, tears streaming down his face.

Tony hugged Bruce even tighter. "We'll find a way. We always do." Tony tried to sound reassuring, but he knew the chances of winning were bleak. He didn't know who he was trying to comfort, Bruce or himself.

"Tony," a heartbreakingly familiar voice called out.

Tony took a deep breath. He wasn't ready for this, but he slowly let go of Bruce and turned around.

Tony already decided that he didn't like the beard. The young boy-scout look was still there, but the torn suit, sad face, and facial hair made Steve look so much older.

"Its good to see you Tony, although I wish it was on better terms," Steve said.

Tony gave a small nod. "Me too."

"Look, Tony, I'm sorry we had a fight and broke up the Avengers. If we hadn't had fought, maybe none of this would have happened…" Steve trailed off, a distant look in his eye.

"I'm sorry too. Maybe we can work on it together," Tony suggested. He looked around. Thor, Natasha, Bruce, Shuri, Rhodey, a raccoon, Clint Barton, and a man Tony recognized to be Ant-Man were all there. "Thor, nice hair cut. It's different, but its good. Natasha, you look surprising good with blonde hair. Clint, been a while, man."

Clint grunted, looking very unhappy. He had arrived early that morning.

"Where's your war buddy?" Tony asked Steve.

Steve looked downcast. "H-He was...everyone else was...too…"

"Oh." Tony was sorry he had asked.

Nebula stepped down from the ship. "Well, this is a wonderful reunion, but we have more pressing matters at hand."

"Who's this lady?" Ant-Man, Scott Lang, asked.

"Nebula!" the raccoon shouted, shocking Tony.

"The raccoon talks?" Tony asked, his eyes wide.

"Yup," Rhodey said and limped over to give his friend a hug.

Nebula stared at Rocket. "Rocket? How did you get here?"

Rocket pointed at Thor. "The pirate-angel man gave Groot...and...and...me. Are the others okay?"

Nebula clenched her fists and shook her head. "No. Thanos killed them, including my sister. And for that, he needs to die."

Rocket paused and suddenly latched onto Nebula's leg. Under normal circumstances, neither of the two would have hugged anyone, but the depressing situation caused them to leave that behind. Nebula patted the top of Rocket's head.

"Listen, ma'am, but we can't exactly get to Thanos, even if we tried. As far as I've heard, Thanos is gone and we probably won't be seeing him for a while. Besides, how are we going to defeat him. You saw what he did. And even without the stones, he's powerful," Clint pointed out.

Steve and Thor shared knowing glances. Clint stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Alright! What's going on?" Clint questioned.

"That's what we were going to tell you," Steve began. "We do have a plan, a risky one, but a plan nevertheless. It might work, but…"

"But what?" Clint pressed.

"We don't know for sure if we can trust him," Natasha added.

"Trust who?" Clint was starting to lose his patience.

"Loki," Thor muttered while avoiding eye contact with the archer.

"LOKI?!" Clint shouted. "OF COURSE YOU CAN'T TRUST HIM! IF I GET MY HANDS ON THAT SON OF A-"

"Clint," Bruce said softly. "He's dead."

"What?!" Nebula yelled. "How?!"

"What, do you know him?" Tony asked.

"Yes. No. Kind of. I saw him from time to time. We talked whenever my father wasn't around. He was in really bad shape the last time I saw him, which was several years ago," Nebula explained.

"Your father?" Steve asked.

"You knew my brother?" Thor asked.

Nebula stared sadly at Thor. "You're Thor, right?"

Thor nodded.

"He called out for you. He had convinced himself that you would come and rescue him, but you never did. My fath-Thanos, used Loki's love for you against him. It was horrific. Nightmares, dreams… Loki couldn't rest when he was unconscious, asleep, or awake. It was terrible!" Nebula continued.

Thor was shocked into silence. Clint, however, was still furious.

"If you knew Loki, how can we be sure that you are entirely trustful? Do you know what he did to me? He turned me into a mind-controlled slave! He made me hurt my friends and colleagues! He killed and destroyed a major part of New York City! Loki should pay for what he has done!" Clint, once again, lost his temper.

"Yeah, Nebula. This Loki guy sounds pretty evil to me. You're a daughter of Thanos. You tried to kill us once. You can't be trusted," Rocket said as he pulled away from Nebula's leg.

That had done it. Nebula lost her own temper. "Can't be trusted?! Thanos is the monster here. For every battle that I lost against my adopted sister Gamora, he took a living part from me and replaced it with metal. He turned me into a freak, a monster, a cyborg! Yes, I did some bad things in the past, but I'm trying to make up for it. You, Rocket, were a thief. If you got a second chance, why can't I?" Nebula exclaimed. She spun on her heel and stormed back into the Black Order's ship. The door closed behind her, but the ship stayed on the ground.

It was silent for a few minutes before Thor spoke up. "I know that my brother can't be trusted, but he's dead. He can't hurt us. I want to avenge his death, and by listening to his plan, it's the only way. Loki is smart. You don't know him like I do. He is different. There's not a day that goes by when he doesn't feel regret and guilt for his crimes. This is a chance for him to make up for all those mistakes. I say we should at least listen to him and give his plan a chance. After all, we all got a second chance. We should give him one too."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Loki? Loki, where are you?" Sigyn called. She had noticed that Loki wasn't in his room when it was time to open the portal again. She had assumed he went for a walk, but he was nowhere in sight. Sigyn sped-walked through the Asgardian section. Surely, he couldn't have gone far. They couldn't open the portal without him, but she had been searching for nearly an hour with no luck. It wasn't like him to just up and disappear. He had no energy left; he couldn't teleport.

"Loki?" Sigyn called again. Where was he?

Fenris jogged over to Sigyn. They were both in the castle's garden.

"Did you find him?" Sigyn asked.

"No. I asked other people if they saw him, but nobody has," Fenris said.

"Its not like him to leave us. Maybe something happened to him," Sigyn suggested.

"I don't know, maybe-" Fenris was cut off by Jormungandr's shout. The two ran up the castle's steps to join the green-haired boy.

"I found something," Jormungandr explained. He set off into the castle, Fenris and Sigyn following close behind.

Jormungandr led the way to the bedroom that Sigyn and Loki shared. He pointed to the bathroom. "In there, on the wall. Was that there before?" he asked.

Sigyn turned the light on in the bathroom. She looked down and saw a strange symbol glowing orange on the wall.

"What in the name of Asgard?" Sigyn paused. "What is that? That wasn't there before!"

"It looks like it appeared recently," Fenris pointed out.

"I've never seen a symbol like that before," Sigyn said.

"It looks like it was burned into the wall," Jormungandr observed. "Its orange, too." Jormungandr looked at his younger brother.

Fenris threw up his hands in protest. "Alright, just because I like the color orange," Fenris gestured to his orange sweatshirt, "it doesn't mean I did this. Besides, I don't burn things. I'm part Bilgesnipe. If anything, it would be frozen on there, not burned."

"Nobody is accusing you of anything," Sigyn said.

"He is." Fenris pointed too Jormungandr.

"Hey, I'm just making an observation!" Jormungandr said defensively.

"Alright you two. Knock it off," Sigyn scolded. "Do you know anyone who might recognize this symbol?"

"Hela would. Dad would. But, oh, that's right! Hela is stuck in an Infinity Stone, dad is missing, and Sleipnir doesn't have enough strength to open the portal by himself!" Jormungandr pointed out sarcastically.

Sigyn sighed. "We will have to figure out a way to get Hela back. At this point, we can't spend all of our time looking for Loki. Our main priority is to get Hela and the victims back safely. I'll see if I can send out some reapers to search for Loki. You two go help Sleipnir find a way to open that portal without him self-combusting," Sigyn ordered.

Jormungandr and Fenris nodded and took off. Sigyn remained staring at the symbol. It looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember where she saw it. She could feel evil radiating off of it. Suddenly, images started rushing through her mind. Her eyes tuned electric blue, and she saw…

... _Loki falling through the void, tears streaming down his face…_

 _...Thanos towering over a kneeling Loki. Loki was held by chains. He was crying as Thanos touched a specter holding the Mind Stone to Loki's chest. Loki's eyes turned black for a second, and then turned to an electric blue. Loki tied shaking his head, but the effect still lasted…_

 _...Loki collapsing as a painful headache seared through his skull. Clint Barton rushed in to help him up, but Loki passed out…_

 _...Thor and Loki fighting on the top of Tony Stark's building. Aliens flew past, shooting random buildings. Screams echoed through New York City. Thor had Loki held down, telling him to look around him. Loki's eyes briefly turned back his usual green as he realized the damage he had caused. His eyes turned back to blue, and he stabbed Thor in the side with his dagger…_

 _...Loki locked up in Asgard's dungeon, sulking…_

 _...Loki pinned under a pile of rubble as Asgard burned around him. He tried to push the beams up, but a wave of heat knocked him unconscious. Asgard exploded, leaving Loki floating out in space. A blue light enveloped Loki and teleported him off…_

 _...Thanos choking Loki to death as Thor watched with horror…_

 _...Loki staring at the mirror in this very bathroom. His eyes were wide with shock and fear. An orange light surrounded Loki, taking him away. All that was left was a strange symbol burned into the wall…_

 _...Loki tied up, unconscious, in an area that resembled a throne room. Thanos grinned down from his spot on a chair. The broken gauntlet was still on Thanos' left hand. Yellow light hovered around Loki's head. Loki twitched, but didn't wake up…_

Sigyn gasped as her eyes returned to their usual violet hue. She stumbled and fell down. She clutched at her head, trying to understand what she just saw.

"Oh Loki!" Sigyn cried. She suddenly knew where he was. She knew what the symbol was. And she knew that Loki didn't have long before Thanos hurt him.

Sigyn pulled herself to her feet. She quickly changed into her Asgardian armour. Silver metal covered her chest and back. The design swirled down to her thigh-length skirt. Gray pants protected her legs. She ran a hand through her light brown hair, the strands twisting themselves into one thick braid. Long, purple sleeves covered her arms. Her silver arm gauntlets were etched with swirling Asgardian designs. She tucked a sword into its scabbard and attached her violet cape. She laced up her boots and took off running to the throne room.

Fenris, Jormungandr, Sleipnir, and Pietro Maximoff were already there. They looked up in shock as the Asgardian healers strode in the room wearing full Asgardian armour.

"What's going on?" Sleipnir asked.

"I know where Loki is," Sigyn said. "Get changed. We leave in five minutes."

Fenris stood up. "Whoah. Slow down. Where is dad?"

Sigyn took a deep breath. "He's on Titan."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Everyone ready?" Tony called to the group. The remaining Avengers, plus Rocket, Nebula, and Ant-Man were gathered around the Black Order's ship. All of them had changed into their battle clothes and had grim expressions on their faces.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Rhodey muttered.

Tony ignored his friend. "Alright. I'm not going over the plan again since it was explained over ten million times, so I hope you know what you have to do. If not, ask Cap. He'll answer your questions because I don't want to." Tony winked at Steve.

Steve shook his head and frowned at Tony. Tony grinned back.

"This is our only chance. I know that you don't really trust the person who made this plan, but its the only one we've got. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Loki isn't the most trustworthy person in the universe, but he is better than Thanos. We don't have to trust him, because we probably will never see him again. Apparently he is dead, so there is no reason why he would trick us. He has nothing to gain from us losing," Steve said and made a point to look directly at Clint. Clint shuffled nervously. "We have to put the past behind us and focus on the here and now. According to Thor, Loki has a dark history with Thanos. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and we need all the help we can get."

With that, Steve strode up into the ship. Tony followed behind, and one by one, the others joined too.

Tony was already by the control console. There were no chairs or seats to sit in, so the heroes sat on the floor or remained standing. Steve joined Tony by the console, and the two started talking in hushed voices. They were still tense, but at least their relationship was starting to get better.

Thor was too anxious to sit, so he remained standing near Tony and Steve. Steve noticed this and motioned for Thor to come closer. Thor obliged and smiled sadly at the duo. The ship was starting to fire up, the thrusters were almost to full power. A few more seconds went by and the ship lurched forward and up into space.

"Are you sure you can fly this thing?" Steve questioned.

Tony grinned. "Relax, Capsicle. I flew it here, didn't I?"

"I thought Nebula did that," Thor said.

"I helped," Tony snapped, but his tone was good-natured and teasing.

Steve gave an exasperated sigh. "I guess some things never change."

Thor hummed and stared absentmindedly at the stars zooming by.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked, shaking Thor from his thoughts.

"As fine as I will ever be," Thor muttered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Steve asked gently. He held up a hand. "I don't mean to pry, but sometimes talking helps."

"Yeah, Point Break. Tell us what's on your mind," Tony added.

"It all seems stupid for me to talk about how I feel when everyone else is has worse problems than me." Thor gestured at the heroes. Natasha, Bruce, and Clint were in a deep conversation. Scott Lang and Rhodey seemed to be bonding. Rocket was still glaring daggers at Nebula, who was trying to ignore the raccoon. Shuri was back at Wakanda; her mother was too upset about losing T'Challa that she wouldn't let the teenage girl out of her sight. Shuri had complained, but the Queen wouldn't budge. Okoye had also stayed behind to protect and rebuild Wakanda.

Steve rested a hand on Thor's shoulder. "It's alright. We all have our losses, but hearing each other's problems can help ourselves figure out our own."

Thor ran a hand through his short hair and let all his emotions flood out. "I just can't seem to win. First I lose my brother to an evil cosmic being, who corrupts him and forces him to destroy New York. Then I my mother is killed by a Dark Elf. Before my father died, he told me that I had an older sister who apparently was evil. She tried to take over Asgard, and the only way to defeat her was by destroying my home. Thousands of my people were killed by her hand, but she is alive and well. I had three nephews and a niece that I tried to kill and had no idea about because my father cursed my brother, them, and myself because they were considered 'monstrosities.' I then lose half of my remaining people and my friends were killed. My brother was murdered in front of my eyes. I had a chance to kill Thanos, but my thirst for revenge outweighed my reasoning." Thor wiped a tear from his cheek. "You may not trust Loki, but I do. I saw him sacrifice his life for mine and the good of Asgard. I believe that his plan will work. I spent the past few years trying to convince him to do good in this world, and the day he does, he is murdered."

A sob rose in Thor's throat. He turned away from Tony and Steve and stared into the distance, his hand over his mouth. He struggled to keep himself from crying.

"I know how it feels to lose someone to the wrong side. Bucky was brainwashed, much like how you said Loki was. Although he killed dozens of innocent, and not so innocent, people, Bucky was still a good man on the inside. Loki and Bucky both fought against the impossible. Now that I think about it, Bucky and Loki have quite similar pasts. We will get our chance to avenge our friends and family. If you trust Loki's plan, I will back you up," Steve said.

"Thank you," Thor murmured.

Steve opened his arms for a hug. The two blondes had never embraced before, but the hug felt natural and surprisingly comfortable for two muscular men. The hug went on for awhile, neither of the two wanting to break it. Tears started forming in Steve's eyes as well.

Tony, who didn't want to feel left out, wrapped his arms around Steve's and Thor's shoulders. "Leaving me out of things, huh? We're a team right? We do everything together, including hugs."

Seeing the trio hug it out, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, and the others joined in. Even Rocket hopped onto Thor's back and hugged the back of the Asgardian's head. Nebula even joined, but she was still uncomfortable with hugging anyone. She let her arms lightly rest on Natasha's and Bruce's shoulders.

"We're going to be alright. Everything will be fine as long as we work together," Steve said in the middle of the group, his voice muffled through all the bodies. "I appreciate all of you and I wouldn't trade you for the world. You're my friends and you helped me fit in with modern society. I'm sorry we fought and split up the team. If we were actually together, we might have won. But this is our second chance, and this time we will avenge our fallen comrades, together."

"Thank you for giving me a second chance," Natasha added.

"I have never had better friends than you," Rhodey put in.

"I hardly know any of y'all, but y'all seem cool," Rocket exclaimed.

"I know I have anger issues, but I thank you for keeping me in check," Bruce said gratefully.

"I have never met braver mortals than this group. You made me realize that all races and species are important and can make a difference," Thor said. "I also thank you for giving my brother's plan a try. Its the least I can do for him."

"I'm kind of new to this team, but even I realize how special and how strong we are together," Scott Lang added.

"I hardly know anyone, but thanks, I guess, for letting me join you to kill my father," Nebula muttered quietly.

"I'm also sorry about the whole 'Sokovia Accords' deal. I may seem self-centered and have a big ego, but you keep me grounded and you helped me realize how important my relationships are. Now, I'm only going to say this once," Tony announced and paused for dramatic effect. "Let's go kick Thanos' ass!"

The team cheered and broke apart from the hug. New found energy surged through the group. They were a team, even though they were lacking in ranks. They were brought together for one simple reason, to defend and avenge the innocent in times of need. As Nick Fury said: "There was an idea, to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if we could become something more; so if they needed us, we could fight the battles that they never could."

They might be marching to their deaths, but they were the freaking Avengers, and they sure as Helheim weren't going to let Thanos get away with what he had done.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Finally, after all these years of planning, Thanos had accomplished his goal. The Mad Titan sat on his home planet, basking in the glory of winning. His people said he shouldn't do it, but they went extinct. He was the only one left because he was smart enough to figure out a way to save other populations from dying off. Depleting resources was a problem that many civilizations faced. It was a serious issue; an issue that Thanos just fixed. There couldn't be a lack of resources if the population didn't have to share. He didn't want to kill anymore than was necessary. If half the population died, then the other half could thrive. No, Thanos wasn't a murderer. In fact, he considered himself a philosopher and a hero. If he hadn't had killed half the universe, the universe would die slowly. Thanos grated mercy to everyone living, including animals. He wasn't stupid. If he killed half of the universe's plants, the animals and other civilizations wouldn't survive. The plants were needed for food and resources. Plants were needed for life to continue, so Thanos decided to keep the plants alive. Besides, he was always fond of plants and how they grew without complaining about problems. They were beautiful creations, so Thanos left them alone to live.

Titan was a beautiful plant. It was sad that his home was destroyed because his people used up all the essentials for living. Thanos wished his family was here to congratulate him on saving the universe, but alas, he was alone. Thanos sat alone thinking to himself. The pesky Avengers and Guardians of Galaxy had tried to stop him from being the hero he was. He had stabbed Tony Stark through the stomach, but he was alive. He was kept alive because if Thanos had killed him, then that would mean the population of the universe would lose a person and one more person would die an unfair death.

Thanos sat there crying for his beloved daughter, Gamora. Her death was necessary to complete his goal. He always believed that the ends justifies the means.

He also did this for Hela, the wonderful young lady he was in love with. They had met once when Hela was collecting the souls of his dead family. Hela was nothing more than a child, but Thanos fell in love almost immediately. The way that death radiated off her was irresistible. Thanos didn't know who her parents were or if she was related to anyone; the girl was so mysterious. Nevertheless, he had tried winning her over by killing people, famous and whole civilizations; and presenting their dead corpses to her. Everytime she was shocked speechless by the loving gesture. He had shown her his plan a few decades back. She had seemed upset at the idea, but he gave her time to think about it. She still hadn't responded and he hadn't seen her in quite some time. Hopefully this would get her attention; nothing could resist the power of the Infinity Stones.

The sun was setting on Titan, painting the sky orange and pink. Thanos hummed quietly to himself as he watched the sun go down. Once it turned dark, Thanos stood up and went inside to his new home. He had used the reality stone to return Titan to its former glory. A tall, stone building stood over a garden full of flowers of many colors. The main hall had tall, sweeping ceilings made out of gray stone. Elaborate designs of ancient symbols covered the walls. A throne of black marble stood at the center of the end of the main hall. The Mark of Thanos decorated the wall behind the throne. Tall windows, standing about twenty feet tall, looked out to the garden.

It was an upgrade from his former ship, Sanctuary. Thanos slouched down on the throne and rested his gloved hand on the arm rest. The chest wound that Thor had given him was not healing very properly; in addition to his weakened state from using the full combined power of the stones.

Thanos was tired and slightly lonely. He had lost his children, the Black Order. Gamora was gone. He couldn't find Nebula. His army was Outriders was killed off by the Avengers. Loki, his pet and personal slave, was dead.

Loki! Thanos sat bolt upright as an idea popped in his head. Thanos summoned the power of the soul stone. An image of an Asgardian bathroom with some modern human upgrades formed in front of him. The image focused and Loki walked into the frame. The Asgardian sorcerer splashed water on his face and sighed. He lifted up his shirt to stare at his reflection. The tattoo that Thanos had given him pulsed in and out of focus, the black ink startlingly dark against the pale skin.

"My pet," Thanos said quietly and watched Loki jump.

Loki looked up in shock and gasped. He backed against the opposite wall and stared in horror as he saw Thanos looking back at him through the image.

"Even in death you still try to betray me," Thanos growled. He had an inkling of what Loki was plotting against him, and he was not happy about it.

"How?" Loki whispered, his eyes wide with terror. Oh, those beautiful green of eyes of his. How Thanos longed to watch them shine with tears after the Asgardian begged for mercy.

"I own you, my pet. I am connected to you. I hear your thoughts. I thought that by killing you, the chance of me dying would decrease," Thanos snarled. "Apparently I have made a mistake. You are much more enjoyable alive." Orange light started pouring from the soul stone, reaching for the image. The light passed through the mirror on Loki's end and pulled Loki into a tight embrace.

Loki screamed as he was enveloped in a orange light. A second later, he was gone. The image blurred and fizzled out. A flash of orange light filled the main hall. The light faded, and Thanos watched as Loki crumpled to the hard floor.

Loki groaned and pushed himself to his feet. Thanos stood up and towered over the boy.

Loki gasped and backpedaled as quickly as he could. He tripped over his own feet and fell back down on his rear. He tried to scoot away from the Mad Titan, but Thanos picked him up easily by the neck. Loki summoned his magic and pressed his hand against Thanos' head. Thanos grunted and threw Loki towards the wall.

"You should thank me," Thanos bellowed angrily. "I brought you back to life and this is how you repay me?"

Loki groaned as he sat up. He summoned a dagger in his right hand and swung it at Thanos. Thanos dodged it easily and grabbed Loki's wrists. He pulled hard on his wrists, lifting Loki's arms above his head.

Loki squirmed and tried kicking Thanos' legs. Thanos ignored the blows and dragged Loki to the center of the room. A chain with handcuffs attached appeared from the ceiling. Thanos cuffed Loki's wrists and spun him to face the throne; his feet barely touching the floor. Thanos sat back down on the stone chair and grinned savagely as the young sorcerer pulled on his restraints in an attempt to free himself.

"I thought you would be grateful to be alive," Thanos stated.

Loki glared in response. He had given up on the chains and focused his energy on being stubborn and resistant.

"I have you here, chained up, as your brother and his friends rush over to try and stop me. I am not a murderer." Here, Loki scoffed. "I will regret killing them in front of you, but it has to be done to ensure the safety of the universe. With me gone, the universe will wither and die. I am only getting rid of the problem."

Loki bit his bottom lip. There didn't seem to be a safe way out of it. Yes, he was glad that the Avengers trusted him enough to follow through with his plan, but he didn't want to put them in further danger. The idea was to catch Thanos off guard and then attack. Now, they had lost the element of surprise and Thanos was ready for them. Not only that, but Thanos could use Loki as bait and leverage against Thor.

Loki bit his lip so hard that it starting bleeding. Thanos noticed this and was in front of Loki in a few long strides.

"You still enjoy pain, don't you?" Thanos asked and wiped the blood off with his finger. The purple alien stared intently at the red blood on his finger. A wicked grin etched itself onto Thanos' face. "Pain. Pleasure. Death. This will be enjoyable."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

 _Titan was a mess. Most of the population was dead, and those who weren't were dying. Of course this amount of death would attract the attention of one important deity._

 _Hela, who was fairly new to the job, strolled through the Titan city, invisible to the eye. She brought a few reapers with her, but she was the one doing most of the reaping. It was a rather depressing job, but someone had to do it._

 _She was in the middle of collecting a soul and readying it for its journey to Valhalla, when a purple Titan approached her. At first she ignored him, since nobody could see her, but then the alien spoke._

 _"Who are you?" the Titan asked._

 _Hela stood up from her spot next to the most recent soul's body. She turned around, confusion written on her face. Nobody could see her unless they were dead or dying. This particular creature was neither. He was perfectly healthy and alive._

 _"You can see me?" she asked. The Titan was much taller than her; she was as tall as his knee, so she had to crane her neck to look at him._

 _"Yes, and I couldn't help but notice how beautiful you are," the Titan responded._

 _Hela paused. She was quite young at the time, only five in Asgardian years (three hundred and seventy five in human years) and she didn't know how to respond to an almost grown Titan calling her beautiful._

 _"Thank you?" Hela said._

 _"You are welcome." The Titan paused. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Thanos." He extended his hand._

 _Hela hesitated before taking it. "Hela, the Goddess of Death and I'm rather busy at the moment..."_

 _Her voice trailed off as Thanos bent down and kissed the back of her hand. She blinked and pulled her hand away._

 _"I...don't...what?" Hela choked out. "You seem rather calm for someone who is losing neighbors and friends to starvation."_

 _"I gave them a solution, but they refused to let me help," Thanos stated._

 _"Oh?"_

 _"Have you heard of the Infinity Stones?" Thanos asked._

 _"Yes," Hela replied. She had some idea of their power, but she was too focused on the task at hand. She tried to walk away from him, but Thanos joined her by her side._

 _"I suggested collecting all six Infinity Stones," Thanos said._

 _"It takes immense power to hold even one Infinity Stone; how will you manage all six?"_

 _"I will have a special gauntlet made to hold them. Once I collect all of them, I will save the universe by a single snap of my fingers. The problem of starvation and lack of resources isn't just my people's problem, its everywhere. If I kill half the universe's population, then there will be enough resources to go around for the other half. The survivors will have to learn from their mistakes and build a better society so they don't use up all their essential resources."_

 _Hela stopped walking, her green-gray eyes wide with shock. Thanos' plan was utterly insane. She had to get away from this madman._

 _"Well, t-that's...wonderful," Hela muttered. "I-I must be...going."_

 _Thanos smiled lovingly down at her. "Will I see you again?"_

 _"Oh...yeah," Hela said, although she didn't mean it. She hoped never to see his ugly, purple face again._

 _Unfortunately, life had a funny way of ruining her hopes._

 _/\_

 _Thanos thought she loved it when he presented dead people and creatures to her. Hela had no idea where Thanos got the idea that she liked seeing dead people and wanting people to die, but she hated it._

 _It started nearly a year after they first met. Thanos had killed almost all the people in Jamestown, the colony in the New World. She was busy reaping their souls when Thanos presented a pile of dead bodies to her. Naturally she was disgusted and buried all the poor people once he had left._

 _Then it happened again in 1865. Thanos had John Wilkes Booth, who was rare human follower of Thanos, assassinate the United States of America's president, Abraham Lincoln. Hela was really upset then and yelled at Thanos that the United States were in a time of need and they needed President Lincoln's help. Thanos, of course, didn't listen and left Hela alone with the President. Hela was furious and put together a large funeral procession for him._

 _Thanos had also killed H. H. Holmes, but Hela was alright about that the serial killer was dead._

 _Amelia Earhart was the next one Thanos tried to use to please Hela. Thanos caused the pilot's plane to disappear, killing the woman in the process. Hela never found the plane and still to this day had no idea where the woman's body and plane wreckage was. Hela had spoken to Amelia when the pilot was brought to Valhalla, but Amelia said she blacked out somewhere over the ocean and couldn't remember anything else. Hela and Amelia grew to be close friends, but Hela was still upset that Thanos killed her._

 _Then it was Martin Luther King Jr. in 1967. Elvis Presley in 1977. Several high ranking Asgardian warriors. A few random planet's rulers. Mass shootings in recent years. Almost all murders had Thanos involved. Even a few unexpected, almost natural deaths were somehow tied to Thanos and his ever growing legion of followers._

 _As much as she tried to dissuade him, Hela couldn't shake the insanity from Thanos' head. It was hard to change his mind, so Hela gave up on him in hopes that by ignoring him, Thanos would leave people alone._

 _It had worked, until recently. The stones were supposedly kept hidden away and safe from Thanos, but the Mad Titan still found them and accomplished his goal._

 _/\_

 _It was the year 1643. Hela was walking through a deserted planet. The brown dust blew gently in the wind. The dark sky and a dull glow of a sun was unsettling. Vincent, Hela's trusted reaper, kept pace with the queen._

 _"Are you sure that this is a wise choice, your highness?" Vincent asked and nodded toward the necklace Hela had around her neck. A orange glow shone from the circular pendant on the silver chain._

 _"Its the only choice we have. Vormir is deserted and hidden away from all cosmic travelers," Hela said._

 _"But are you sure that Thanos will not find it?" Vincent pressed._

 _Hela turned to look at him. "Nothing is for certain, but this will at least slow him down." She turned back and kept walking. She stopped at the top of a tall cliff. The cliff looked out over a large circular stone ground. The wind blew Hela's long, black hair away from her face._

 _"It is time," Hela said and took the necklace off. She opened the locket and the Soul Stone floated out. Hela grabbed the stone from the air and whispered an Asgardian spell into it. She finished and threw the stone as hard as she could to the center of the circle. Orange light enveloped the circle and shot up into the sky. The light faded, leaving Asgardian symbols carved into the circle._

 _Hela and Vincent stared down at the ground below them._

 _"Wouldn't the stone be safer in Valhalla?" Vincent asked, breaking the silence._

 _"I cannot risk the souls there. The Soul Stone would go insane and trap all the souls in Valhalla and Helheim in it. I can't let that happen. No, its safer here," Hela answered and put the necklace into her pocket._

 _"Assuming the spells works, and it will, what will happen if someone is willing to risk a soul for a soul?"_

 _"Nobody in their right minds will be willing to sacrifice a loved one for the Soul Stone. They might think they are strong enough, but they will change their minds. If not, then overwhelming regret will consume them. People always wish to go back and undo their mistakes and regrets to get rid of the guilt. The Soul Stone is cursed. It is safe here."_

/\

Hela wished she could bring all of them back. She wished she could get out of this stupid stone and send Thanos' soul straight to Helheim. Hela spent the time thinking about all the punishments she could inflict onto Thanos. Of course he would get top notch security; she wasn't going to risk having him escape. It was about time that Thanos got a taste of his own medicine.

"Miss? Are you alright?" a young woman, whom Hela found out to be Wanda, asked.

"Oh, yeah. Just peachy," Hela said sourly.

Wanda looked hurt. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering how much longer are we going to wait?"

"Minutes, days, years...who knows? We're stuck here unless someone can open a portal to Valhalla from Valhalla. I made it that way so no weirdo maniac can barge in and ruin the place. Souls hold power, so there is no way in all the Nine Realms that I'm going to risk losing souls to a crazy wack-a-do who wants to take over the universe!"

"We can't open a portal to Valhalla, but can we open a portal to Earth?" Wanda suggested.

Hela thought for a moment. "That might work. You have the strength to do it; I can feel it. You are powerful. Our combined magic should open a portal, but it will be exhausting. It will be a challenge, since we will have to fight Thanos almost directly afterwards. And I don't know if we can hold the portal open long enough for all of us to go through."

Doctor Strange joined the two women. "I can help, but it still may not be enough. I've heard that entering and exiting Infinity Stones is nearly impossible. It takes immense power," he said.

"I think we can only send one person through," Wanda said. "We can't get all of us through at the same time."

"Yeah, but who's going?" Hela asked and looked around. "Its up to you guys, since I'm new and you've been here longer than me."

T'Challa, the unofficial leader of the group, spoke up. "I believe the person we send should be one willing to handle Thanos alone and somehow get the gauntlet off of him. Is it possible to use the Soul Stone to open a portal?"

"From the outside, yeah. If not, the Space Stone should be able to help as well," Hela answered.

"Well then, I nominate Hela to be the one to go through," T'Challa said.

The answer shocked Hela. "What?" she gasped out.

"You said that you have a relationship with Thanos. He trusts you. You are the only one who can get close to him without any danger of being hurt. You are the best option we have," T'Challa explained.

"Its...just...wow," Hela stuttered. She wasn't scared; she was surprised that the heroes trusted her enough to leave them in the Soul Stone when she had every opportunity to betray them. Of course she wasn't going to leave them here, but they barely knew her. It was also a risk putting their trust in a child of Loki, although Loki was on their side.

"You barely know me. I could betray you at any second," Hela said, trying to show them reason. She thought Doctor Strange or Gamora was a better choice; Gamora especially, although it was more reasonable for someone alive to confront Thanos. Thanos would obviously start asking questions if his daughter came back from being sacrificed.

"We know, but I speak for all of us. You saved us from the Black Order and those bear creatures. You seem like someone who should be trusted. It is a desperate time, so we have to be willing to trust our enemies, even if our allies are a child of Loki," T'Challa said. He quickly held up a hand in assurance. "No offense to your father, but none of us are on good terms with him."

"None taken. I completely understand."

"Then its official. Good luck, Hela." T'Challa stepped forward and extended his hand.

Hela took it and smiled. T'Challa smiled back. "I'll promise I'll come back for everyone. I won't let you down. Opening this portal will alert Thanos of our presence. I will have to move quickly."

Everyone took a step back. Wanda and Doctor Strange stood next to each other with Hela in the middle. Wanda took a deep breath and red magic blazed alive in her hands. Doctor Strange waved his hands in a circle, causing a small orange light to appear a few feet in front of the trio.

Wanda aimed her magic at the light. Hela took a deep breath, summoned her own magic, and aimed the dark light at the forming portal. A sonic wave pulsed from the combined magics, sending Wanda and Doctor Strange to fly backwards and Hela forwards.

A final wave pulsed across the desert sand, and Hela was gone.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Something seemed off. Maybe it was because the Avengers were on an enemy ship flying towards the baddest villain they had ever encountered. Or maybe it was because the normally ruined landscape of Titan was green and thriving. Or maybe it was the impending feeling of doom.

Whatever the reason, the Avengers were on edge. They were just descending to the now flourishing ground. The ship's ramp unfolded and the Avengers plus Rocket and Nebula descended. Steve looked around and glanced expectantly at Tony.

"Its not how I remember it," Tony answered the silent question.

"This is how Titan looked before it died off," Nebula said. "Its only reasonable that Thanos restored it to its former glory."

"You were here before?" Rocket asked.

"No, but he told many stories and used the Mind Stone to show Gamora and me what Titan was like. He can be very persuasive," Nebula retorted.

"Cool," Scott Lang added, grinning. He saw everyone staring at him with looks of pure annoyance. His grin faded. "Not cool…"

"Is everyone ready?" Steve asked, a tinge of nervousness in his voice betrayed his hesitation.

"Sure," Rocket said sarcastically. "I mean, what could possibly go wrong?"

Steve's mouth twitched into a frown. "The first key to victory is believing that things will go right. Failure happens when people give up."

Rocket rolled his eyes and hefted his gun over his shoulder. "Fine, Smart Ass. Let's get rolling so I can shoot that evil-doer and get my friends back."

Steve sighed and motioned for the others to follow him. In reality, he wasn't expecting to win. He had no idea where to go and he couldn't help but think that he was leading everyone to their deaths. Steve tried to shake the thoughts from his head, but they kept bouncing back, each time bringing more of their buddies.

It took nearly twenty minutes to cross the open grassy plain and into the city. Each step felt heavier as the heroes made their way into the garden.

Something was wrong. It was too quiet. Surely Thanos would've attacked them by now. Steve had a thought that they were being played; tricked by a non-present Loki who promised that he would have someone here to meet them and help fight Thanos.

Steve held up his hand to signal for the heroes to stop. He crouched behind a decorative boulder and glanced around. There was nobody in sight. The only things living where the large, colorful flowers and plants in the garden. The garden led up to a building so large that it couldn't be anything other than the 'castle' or 'headquarters.' It was quite terrifying to look at, but Steve had a feeling that the only place to go was where no one wanted to enter. Fate had a funny sense of humor this way.

Steve led the way around the pond in the middle of the garden and up the stairs to the 'castle.' The heroes ducked behind pillars and walls before entering through the main doors. It seemed stupid and bold to walk in through the front, but Steve couldn't find any other opening and sometimes doing so was the best option. Usually nobody expected the enemy to just stroll on in through front doors, but it was left unlocked and unguarded. Everything seemed too easy, but at least they had the element of surprise...

What the heroes saw next shocked everyone into freezing in place.

In the middle of the grand hall, on the throne, sat Thanos. Thanos was grinning at the heroes' stupidity. A man was chained by his wrists to the ceiling. For some odd reason, the man was shirtless and was wearing only his black pants and boots. They couldn't see the person's face since the man was facing the throne, but they could tell that he was quite unnaturally muscular as any slim person his size could get. The dark look with pale skin and a muscular body was a hard look to pull off, but this man wore it perfectly. His body had no flaws, except for a dark tattoo on his left arm. It looked like the tattoo continued onto his chest, but the heroes couldn't see.

"Avengers, I knew you would come. How bold of you just to walk in here. Did you really expect me to be unprepared?" Thanos stood up and walked down the steps. He stopped by the man's side and pulled on the chains, making the man turn to face the heroes. The man grunted as his wrists were twisted and shook his long, black hair from his face.

Thor gasped in shock as he recognized the man's face. His cheeks, which was usually pale, was flushed red, but there was no other sign of the man being hurt. The tattoo did continue onto his chest, and it was even more terrifying to look at.

"Loki?!" Thor shouted and took a desperate step towards his brother.

Thanos saw this and let loose a bolt of power. The heroes were suddenly chained in place by tendrils of magic, the hand and foot cuffs pulsed an angry reddish-purple.

"Ah, ah, ah. I control everything here. What I say is law, and you are not allowed to touch my slaves." Thanos wagged his ungloved finger at Thor.

"SLAVE?!" Thor shouted angrily. "HOW DARE YOU CALL MY BROTHER A SLAVE!"

"Are you really testing my power?" Thanos questioned. He grabbed Loki by the hair and yanked his head back, winning a small cry from the Asgardian. "What should you say when people question my authority, hm, pet?"

"Go burn in Helheim, you filthy excuse for a Titan," Loki snapped.

Thanos growled and backhanded Loki across the face. Loki winced as the force shook through his body and spit out a mouthful of blood.

Thor, who was struggling against his restraints, glared at Thanos. He noticed that his brother was breathing. How odd, ghosts don't need to breath…

Realization hit Thor like a stampede of bilgesnipes. "Loki?! You're alive?! How?!"

Thanos answered for Loki. "I brought him back to life because I thought I could use him against you."

"I'd much rather be dead," Loki retorted.

"What's the fun in that?" Thanos asked and grabbed the chain. He pushed Loki off balance. Loki stumbled, the only thing keeping him upright was the chain attached to the ceiling. As Loki struggled to regain his footing, Thanos sidled over to Nebula. He lifted Nebula's chin up to look into her face.

Nebula glared back at him, her black eyes full of anger.

"How many betrayals shall I endure before my time is over?" Thanos asked. "I thought you were on my side."

"You hurt me and killed my sister! Like hell I'm staying on your side! You will die a slow, painful death by my hand!" Nebula spit in Thanos' face. Thanos retaliated by punching Nebula, hard, in the stomach. Nebula curled in on herself, but never broke her eye contact with her 'father.'

"Betrayal. Its not uncommon amongst the unfavored child. I gave both of you a home; you had a chance at a wonderful life, and you threw it away!" Thanos stared directly at Loki and Nebula. Nebula caught Loki's eye, and the two shared a pained glance.

"What do you mean you gave him a home?" Thor asked, still pulling against his bindings.

Thanos ignored Thor's question. "He called out for you. He begged for you to come rescue him, but you never came. What type of brother leaves his sibling behind?"

"I didn't know he was alive! If I did, you wouldn't be living!" Thor growled.

"Hm. How touching." Thanos grinned, his teeth surprisingly white. He made his way back to Loki's side. The Titan trailed a large, purple finger across Loki's cheek. Loki squeezed his eyes shut and tried to move away from the touch.

"You are sweating," Thanos pointed out. It was true. Loki was breaking out in a nervous sweat; his heart felt like it was going to burst from his chest. "I can understand why you are scared, but I promise I will go easy on you if your brother and his friends agree to cooperate."

"What the hell do you want?" Tony shouted.

"What I want is for you to leave me alone. I just saved the universe, and this is how I am treated? All I want is to live in peace."

"Like Helheim! There is no way we are leaving!" Thor snarled.

"Would you look at that?" Thanos asked Loki. Loki bit his lip again. "Your brother just gave me permission to do whatever I please."

"What?! No! That is not what I said!" Thor said.

"You are not leaving, I understand that much. By those means, I still have you under my control. You will never break those chains. How fun will it be to watch the mighty Avengers die in front of my eyes! Slowly and painfully is truly the way to go."

Thanos had moved behind Loki. The purple alien leaned over Loki's back and whispered in his ear. Loki tried move away from the hot breath, but the chains held him in place.

"Since the Avengers will be here for awhile, I say we should put on a show for them," Thanos suggested lustfully. He reached around Loki's waist and pulled a dagger from a hidden sheath attached to Loki's boot. "Such a wonderful hiding place for a weapon. Are you sure you don't want to use this against me now?"

Loki kept his mouth firmly closed. Thanos laughed and flipped the dagger before hovering it over Loki's chest, right above his heart. Thanos grinned savagiously as Thor cried out. Thanos suddenly moved the tip of the blade into the middle of Loki's chest. Loki gasped as red blood trickled from the wound, but it wasn't deep. He flicked the blade into Loki's right cheek and pressed the tip of the blade against the bottom of Loki's chin, causing Loki to look up. Loki couldn't help but whimper a bit as the blade was pressed harder against his chin, drawing blood.

"Hm, such lovely hair. So long and so easy to tangle my fingers in," Thanos mused and gave it a quick yank for emphasis.

Loki was too scared to respond. It had been a couple years since he had last been with Thanos, but all the memories and nightmares came rushing back. He remembered the pain and fear like it was yesterday.

Thanos trailed a finger over Loki's cheek. He moved down to Loki's chest, and traced the outline of the tattoo.

"How about we get started? Let's show these pathetic little mortals how I respond to those who disobey me," Thanos growled just loud enough for the Avengers to hear.

The Avengers, mostly Thor, shouted angrily as the gravity of the situation took hold of their minds. They suddenly realized what may have gone down between the two before the New York Incident, but surely Thanos was above that?

Once again, they were wrong.

Loki's scream was terrifying as Thanos moved to hurt him.

/\

Three painfully long hours had passed before Thanos was finished with Loki. During that time, Thor's voice had left him, mainly from shouting for Thanos to stop hurting his brother. Thanos, of course, was deaf to the Avengers' insults and pleas to stop. Clint had even joined in with all the yelling; even he couldn't stand the way the former criminal was being hurt.

Thanos finally let go of Loki and strode up to sit on his throne, an exhausted, maniacal grin plastered on his face.

Loki was curled into a ball, barely conscious as his sobs racked through his body. His clothes were a tattered mess. He was free from his chains, but Loki made no move to get up. Everything hurt: his pride, his dignity, his body. He had lost his dignity and privacy as he was...he was… Loki couldn't bring himself to think about what had happened to him in front of his brother and the stupid, freaking Avengers. Why did they have to watch? It was bad enough that Thanos even did something like that, but having the Avengers see and hear everything was unbearable. Loki was slightly thankful that the Avengers were against Thanos' deranged idea of fun, but he didn't want to look weak in front of them.

The last three hours had taken its toll on Thanos. The chains holding the heroes were losing strength. Thor managed an extremely hard tug against his bindings and promptly fell to the floor. Thor sprinted over to Loki's side and cradled his little brother in his arms. Loki continued sobbing as Thor wiped the blood, sweat, and...other stuff from Loki's face with his cape.

"Shh. Its alright. I'm here. We're going to be okay," Thor assured, but once again, he didn't know who he was trying to console: Loki or himself.

Steve had freed himself from his restraints and was busy tugging against Tony's. Thanos was too tired to stop them. In fact, he watched the Avengers struggle with an amused smile. Clearly, the whole ordeal had shaken them to the core. Thanos chuckled quietly to himself; the Avengers were so pitiful that it was entertaining.

Tony was now free and aimed his blasters at Thanos.

"Try to do anything insane, and I'll shoot you on the spot," Tony threatened.

"Mmm, Stark. Such a pitiful threat. We all know that you can't hurt me, let alone kill me," Thanos pointed out with a tired smile.

"Want to test that?" Steve joined in, his double shields visible.

"The only one who can kill me can barely move." Thanos nodded towards Loki. "He never wanted to take over New York. He never wanted to kill thousands of innocent people, but I made him do it anyways."

"Why?" Bruce asked, who was now standing next to Steve and Tony. Rhodey, Rocket, and the others were free as well. Natasha had a hand on Nebula's shoulder, stopping the bald woman from attacking Thanos. Thor had helped Loki into his clothes, but Loki was still shaking.

"It was necessary, as was killing half the universe."

"Killing is never an option," Steve said.

"But, Captain, you will kill me if given the chance," Thanos said. "You are going against you word. Why?"

"Its necessary."

"What I did was only to ensure the prosperity of the universe. How can people live when they are slowly dying to lack of resources?"

"You could've made more resources, instead of killing everyone!" Rocket growled.

"That would have never worked. People would still use up extra resources. No, they need to learn from their mistakes." Thanos stood up from his throne, the Mind Stone glowing yellow in the gauntlet. "Mistakes are a chance to learn. Maybe next time you will learn that you should never underestimate my power and reasoning."

Thanos descended the steps. The heroes unconsciously took a few steps back. Thor picked up Loki and dragged him away from the Titan.

"Now, Thor, that is not very nice. You should learn how to share your toys," Thanos said.

"Loki is not a toy. He is my brother and if you touch him again, I will kill you without breaking a sweat," Thor threatened, and summoned Stormbreaker. Thunder rumbled in the distance, proving his point.

"You left your brother to die. I gave him a second chance. A chance to grow and take over the weak. You held him back from his full potential. I saved him from death. He owes me."

"He owes you nothing," Thor spat out.

"You say magic is for women. Why don't you let him practice it? Loki is truly a gifted sorcerer, let him show you how powerful his is." Thanos aimed a beam of the Mind Stone's power at the two Asgardians. Thor ducked, but the light hit Loki. Loki gasped, his eyes flying open, but they weren't the normal green. Electric blue eyes turned to glare at Thor. Thor's eyes widen in shock, his mouth dropping open.

"The Mind Stone doesn't just control someone's mind, it opens it to new possibilities. I gave Loki a future, a future without anyone holding him back; including you."

Loki suddenly kicked Thor in the stomach. Thor doubled over and dropped his axe. Steve rushed in to help, but Loki waved his hand and Steve was frozen in a block of ice.

"Thor," Loki whispered. "My big brother. You know, I looked up to you. You were my hero. I wanted to be just like you." A reassuring smile shined down at Thor. Thor reached for his axe, but Loki kicked him again in the legs. Thor fell to his knees and looked up at Loki, his eyes pleading.

"Loki, this isn't you," Thor said.

"Of course it isn't me!" Loki laughed. He summoned a dagger and stood twirling it in his hand. "I'm not the precious little brother you always wanted me to be. I'm not the warrior that Odin wanted me to be. I could have been something more, but you want that. Its all about you, isn't it. You are scared of what I can do. Magic is something that you don't understand, and you are scared of what you don't understand. Too be honest, its quite reasonable, but you didn't want me to become stronger than you."

"Loki, I supported you when others did not!" Thor cried, and he wasn't lying. Thor was the only there for Loki when he was being bullied for using magic. Odin had always ignored Loki's pleas, but Thor never left Loki's side.

"You left me to die! You have no idea what I went through! Master showed me the way. He gave a second chance. He didn't care that I was a sorcerer instead of a warrior. Instead, he gave me an opportunity to use my power for the greater good. Earth needed a ruler; who better to choose than me?" Loki questioned. He kicked Thor in the chest. Tony shot a missile at Loki, but Loki set up a forcefield around him and Thor. The Avengers stood around the forcefield, trying to break it.

"Stand up and fight, brother. You were always one who never backed down from a battle." Loki swung his dagger at Thor's throat. Thor caught Loki's wrist and stood up.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Then you are weak."

Loki summoned a ball of energy and shoved it into Thor's chest. Thor gasped and staggered backwards. Loki threw spheres of green magic at Thor. Thor used his lightning to break the globes and ducked before a dagger hit him in the head. The dagger hit the inside of the forcefield and fell to the ground.

"How is he holding this thing up and fighting Thor with magic and daggers and what-not at the same time?" Tony gasped as he watched the two brother duel it out. Loki had a lot of energy for someone who was just tortured and molested for three hours straight. Thor, of course, was holding back on his full power. Bolts of lightning bounced off of the forcefield, but only small strikes hit Loki.

"I have no freaking clue," Rocket replied in awe. "Looks like the dark one is going to win if the pirate angel doesn't do something."

If it was a battle of physical strength, Thor would have won. But Loki was a strategist, and he had his wits and magic to help balance out the fight.

Thor was starting to tire. He had no idea where Loki was getting all his energy from. It was probably from the Mind Stone, but Thor was too busy trying not to get stabbed to think much about it. If Loki wasn't going to listen to Thor's talking, then knocking some sense into him was the best way to go.

A hard beam of magic hit Thor in the chest. He coughed as the force sent him skidding, but he remained standing. Thor sent a small bolt of lightning at Loki. Loki paused for a few seconds as the electricity shook through his body. Loki grinned and advanced on Thor. Thor blocked the first punch, but Loki aimed a painful kick in between Thor's legs. Thor shouted in pain and fell to his knees.

"How pitiful, brother," Loki spat out the last word as if it was a curse. "I thought you were a better fighter then that."

Thor glared up at his brother. "I said I didn't want to hurt you."

Loki rolled his eyes. "You are quite amusing, aren't you." He raised his dagger and looked expectantly over at Thanos. Thanos, who was standing behind Loki, nodded back.

"Finish him," Thanos commanded.

Loki turned back to Thor. "No hard feelings. Well, actually there are. But, should you know that killing you is necessary. All I'm doing is cutting out whatever is holding me back from my full potential. This is goodbye, brother."

Loki raised the dagger even higher. Thor bowed his head, hiding his tears.

"You are still my brother. You may not feel the same way for me, but had many opportunities to kill me. Several times I could have been dead, but you never did. Deep down, there is still good in you. You saved Asgard, you saved me. If you must kill me, if it is truly what you want, then do it. But, never forget that you are my brother. And I love you."

Loki twisted the dagger in his hand so it was at a better angle. Bruce and Natasha shouted. Tony banged his armoured hand against the forcefield. The green magic wavered with the force and died into green sparks.

Tears fell down Thor's cheeks, his head still bowed. Loki's eyes suddenly widened, green irises shining with tears. Loki's chest heaved and he dropped his arm down to his side.

"No," Loki whispered. He turned around to glare at Thanos. Thanos' grin quickly faded. "You made into a monster!"

"You were already a monster, my pet. I merely gave you a chance to use that against you enemies," Thanos said tiredly.

Loki turned back to look down at Thor. Thor's head was still bowed, his shoulders tense, waiting for the dagger to slice his throat.

"You...you...hurt me! Because of you, I lost everything I loved!" Loki whipped around sliced his dagger at Thanos' throat. Thanos caught it and broke Loki's wrist. Loki screamed in pain and kicked Thanos in between the legs. Thanos grunted and grabbed Loki's right leg. In one quick movement, Thanos dislocated Loki's leg from his knee. Loki crumbled, but Thor caught him before he hit the ground.

"You dare attack me?! I am your master!" Thanos boomed.

"I serve no one, bitch," Loki snapped back. Exhaustion took over and he fell unconscious.

Thanos growled and sent a wave of purple energy towards the heroes. Everyone flew back and hit the ground in pain grunts.

"I promised not to kill anymore, but you have provoked me." Thanos looked up at the ceiling, all six Infinity Stones glowing. "I offer up the lives and souls to my love, Hela! Here my offering and rejoice, since I bring to you the most powerful souls you will ever collect!"

As if on cue, a red-orange portal opened up on the right of Thanos' throne. A figure dressed in black and green stepped through. Both the Avengers and Thanos stopped what they were doing to watch the woman enter. The young woman's cape snapped out behind her.

"Thanos," the young woman said, no emotion in her voice.

"Hela?" Thanos, Thor, and Bruce said at the same time, each one with more surprise than the other.

"My love! I knew you would come!" Thanos spread out his arms in an invitation for a hug. Hela ignored him and looked around. She tried to hide her disgust and shock as she saw her father lying helplessly on the floor.

"What happened here?" Hela asked. She made no move to come closer to Thanos.

"I had a little fun with my pet. You should hear him scream! It is the most wonderous sound in the whole universe! My love," Thanos grabbed Hela's hand and kissed it, "I have been waiting for you. What better way to express my love for you than killing the Avengers so you could add to your collection of souls!"

Hela pulled her hand away from Thanos. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and tried to look casual.

"Are you sure that killing the Avengers is the wisest choice?" Hela asked.

"Of course it isn't!" Tony shouted. Thanos clenched his gloved fist, and Tony gasped as the air was sucked out of him.

"This is a matter between my love and me. There is no need for your input," Thanos said.

Tony said something along the lines of "Yeah, got that" or "Go screw yourself."

Thanos ignored the billionaire and stepped closer to Hela. Hela wrapped her arms around herself, and stared at her father.

"My love, ever since I set eyes on you, I knew you were the one for me. The way death followed you was just irresistible." Hela raised her eyebrows in question at this. "I have been meaning to ask you this question, but you have been away from me."

Thanos knelt down on one knee and took off his gauntlet. The gold metal shrunk down to Hela's size. Hela covered her mouth with her hand in shock. Was Thanos really offering his entire life's work over to her? Never before had anyone ever gave her anything this priceless. Tears starting forming in her eyes. She seemed to be rethinking her decisions and view of Thanos.

"Together, we can rule the universe. You will be my queen and you can have all the souls you want. Loki will be our slave and you can do whatever you want to the Avengers. Hela, my love, will you marry me?" Thanos asked, his eyes looking expectantly up at her.

Hela let Thanos take her left hand and slip the gauntlet on. The Avengers watched in shock as the strangely romantic side of Thanos showed in all its glory.

The next three words that Hela spoke were quite simple, but they held a lot of meaning.

"I...HATE YOU!" Hela shouted. She punched Thanos in the face with her gloved fist. "DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT I LOVED YOU?! NO! YOU KILL FOR FUN, BUT I HATE IT!"

She summoned the power of the Soul Stone. "Guess what, bitch. I've been working against you this entire time; undoing all your work." She aimed her fist at the throne. The throne turned into a portal, and one by one, the dusted heroes stepped through.

Wand and Doctor Strange were the first ones through. The two were leaning against each other; using their powers on the other side was extremely exhausting. The Avengers watched in shock as their fallen comrades appeared.

"Hela, you have betrayed me?!" Thanos exclaimed, his eyes wide in shock as Gamora glared at her father.

"Oh, really? Maybe if you weren't so dumb, you would have figured out by now that every child of Loki inherits a knack for tricking people. Guess it runs in the family," Hela snapped.

"Father," Gamora said.

"Gamora." Thanos took a step towards his favorite daughter. Gamora backed away and let Peter Quill step protectively in front of her.

"Back off, you murderer," Peter Quill shouted. "Leave my girlfriend alone!"

"You don't understand the misery I've been through today," Thanos pleaded. "The love of my life and my favorite daughter both appear, but they only carry hatred for me in their hearts. Surly you know what its like to lose a loved one?"

"Hell yeah I do! And because of you I lost Gamora! You killed her for power!" Peter yelled.

"Its was necessary to accomplish my goal; my goal to please my lover." Thanos turned to Hela, sadness written all over his face.

"The feelings kind of one sided," Hela said. "You hurt my father and killed half the universe. You murdered people for me, because you thought I loved it. Newsflash, dumbass, I don't. So why don't you come over here so I can send your sorry ass straight to Helheim!"

Thanos howled in rage and charged at Hela. Hela braced herself and landed a solid punch right in the middle of Thanos' stomach. Thanos flew back and landed with a crunch on the ground. Hela strode over and glared down at him.

"Buh-bye, loser." Hela raised her gloved fist and aimed at Thanos' head. Thanos caught her hand, ripped the glove off, and kicked back. Hela tumbled over and fell on her rear with an 'oof.'

Gamora raised her sword and charged at Thanos. Thanos created a forcefield around him. Gamora's sword bounced off harmlessly.

"Enough of this!" Thanos shouted. "I will no longer tolerate this!" He raised his fist; the Soul and Reality stones lit up.

"Dang it," Hela cursed. There went her theory of Thanos being able to use only one stone at a time.

Suddenly, an army of Outriders and Chitauri poured out in a burst of savage snarls.

"Kill them," Thanos commanded. The aliens howled in glee and charged at the heroes.

The onslaught and the sheer mass of the aliens forced the heroes outside. The garden was quickly destroyed as the two opposing forces fought for their lives. Flowers were ripped out of the ground. Trees burst into flame. Thanos stood gleaming in triumph on the top of the steps of the castle.

Hela sliced down a Chitauri soldier and looked around her. They were severely outnumbered. Even with the combined forces of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, the heroes were going to lose if she didn't do something.

Hela turned her face towards the sky and shouted. "Pietro! Now!"

A second later, the ground shook as energy was released from the Gates of Valhalla opening. The honorable dead appeared seemingly out of nowhere, turning the favor to the heroes. Pietro Maximoff appeared next to Hela's side. Jormungandr, Sleipnir, Sigyn, and Fenris landed on their feet, their weapons drawn and determined looks on their faces.

"Which motherfucker should I kill first?!" Jormungandr taunted and dove into the middle of the battle. He sliced down the opposing army with the strength of, well, a giant serpent. His double bladed axe was quickly covered with the blood and guts of creatures who were stupid enough to challenge him.

Fenris, with his orange cape billowing behind him, froze aliens left and right. Soon, there was a large number of alien ice sculptures left in his wake.

Even Sleipnir, the quiet and caring one of the four, had amassed a terrifying amount of dead corpses behind him; each one with cuts from his dual-wielding Viking longswords.

"Where is Loki?" Sigyn asked Hela over the roar of the battle.

"I have no idea!" Hela replied and kicked an Outrider away from her. Sigyn caught the alien and sank her sword into its chest. It tried to claw at her, but it gurgled and moved no more.

"I'm going to find him!" Sigyn shouted and disappeared before Hela could respond.

"Okay then," Hela muttered to herself. She felt sorry for anyone who ended up in Sigyn's way. Although the Asgardian healer was the sweetest, most innocent person in the universe, she could be pretty vicious if any one she loved was put in danger. There was no possible way that Sigyn was going to let Thanos get away with hurting Loki; Hela was sure of that.

"Thanos," Hela thought. "Where is that freak?"

Hela looked around. The huge Titan shouldn't have been easy to miss, but he was nowhere in sight. She saw Pietro fighting next to his sister Wanda. The two were trying to catch up with their lives in the midst of the battle. Steve and Bucky, naturally, found each other and were fighting side by side like old war buddies. The two moved in perfect harmony, and were unsurprisingly holding their own. Sam Wilson and Rhodey were flying above and were shooting down aliens. Tony had reunited with Peter Parker; the teenager was never out of the billionaire's sight. Occasionally Tony and Bucky would turn and watch the teenager at the same time. It was clear that Bucky still felt a natural desire to protect the teenage hero.

Fenris, who had enough of the huge army, summoned his little bit of magic and turned into his real form: a giant wolf. The wolf caused Bruce to finally Hulk out. Jormungandr, who was never one to back down from a challenge, grinned and turned into his real form: a giant serpent. The three mowed down alien after alien, never tiring and only caused each other to push on because they had started a competition to see who could kill the most aliens. Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse, decided it was best to stay in his human/Asgardian form since it was easier to hold two swords with.

Doctor Strange and T'Challa had teamed up and were using their abilities to their fullest capacity. Natasha, Clint, and Scott had a started a system: Scott would lead an alien to Clint, who would shoot it with an arrow from his spot in a tree. Natasha was watching Clint's back and was shooting any stray alien. Scott would occasionally shrink an alien and step on it to kill it.

The Guardians of the Galaxy had formed a circle and were fighting like the good old days. Nebula and Gamora were happy to be together again. Rocket never left Groot's side; and Peter Quill stayed as close as he could too Gamora without getting in her way.

Thor was… where was Thor? Hela punched an Outrider and cut off its arms. It was unnatural for Thor to miss out on a fight, especially if it meant revenge.

Pure luck, or some strange turn of fate, caused Hela to glance behind her at the castle. She caught a glimpse of purple disappearing behind the large doors. Either it meant Sigyn had went inside to find Loki, or it was Thanos doing something, something that was clearly up to no good.

Hela was about to go check it out when a large explosion blew out the side of the castle. Lightning sparked through the air and Thor appeared out of the smoke. His axe was alight with energy and he hovered over the newly made hole in anticipation. Sure enough, Thanos leap through the hole, his gloved fist raised ready to punch.

"Holy shit!" Rocket cursed nearby.

"I am Groot!" Groot shouted.

Two more figures appeared from the smoke. Hela could barely make out the colors of their capes: purple and green, which meant Sigyn had found Loki. Loki was leaning against Sigyn, his right leg still bent at an odd angle.

"Dad!" Hela shouted and sprinted towards the two. Thanos noticed this and sent and energy blast at Loki. Sigyn yelped as the blast hit her, and sent her flying. His support gone, Loki fell down with a pained cry.

Thor leapt at Thanos, his axe raised. Thanos trapped Thor mid-leap, in a bubble of magic. Thor squirmed, trying to break free, but the bubble was too strong.

Thanos smiled and leant down to pick up Loki by the hair. Loki grunted in pain as his dislocated knee was jostled.

The battle immediately died down as everyone turned to watch was going on.

"Heroes." Thanos spat out the word like a curse. "I promised that I would never kill again, but I'm afraid that the only way to stop you from ruining my plans is to make a sacrifice."

"The last sacrifice you made was a huge mistake!" Gamora yelled.

"Ah, but daughter, this time I will not hurt you. Instead, I will take out a favorite of many. How would you feel, my pet, if I killed your brother?" Thanos shook Loki for emphasize.

"No!" Loki protested, but Thanos raised his fist and Thor started screaming in pain. Loki struggled to loosen Thanos' grip on his hair, but the gigantic hand wasn't moving. Seeing no other way, Loki whipped out his dagger.

"Do you really think that a tiny dagger could hurt me?" Thanos laughed as Loki sliced upwards and missed his hand. "You missed," Thanos pointed out.

"I wasn't aiming for you," Loki stated and cut above where Thanos was holding his long, dark hair. Finally free from his grasp, Loki managed to execute a perfect roll as anyone with a dislocated knee and broken wrist could manage. Thanos lifted his right hand and stared intently at the lock of hair left in his hand. Thanos cursed and threw it down in frustration.

"You little trickster! Get back here!" Thanos broke his focus, causing Thor to fall down gasping, but still alive.

Jormungandr, who had turned back to his human form, stepped in front of his father.

"Get out of my way or die!" Thanos ordered.

"Suck it, fucker!" Jormungandr said and swung his axe at Thanos' leg. Thanos dodged it and slapped Jormungandr away like a pesky fly.

"Jormy!" Sleipnir shouted, but Thanos left the green-haired kid alone.

The few seconds that Jormungandr had distracted Thanos for was just enough for Sigyn to catch up with Loki and help to his feet.

"Back off!" Sigyn warned as Thanos stepped closer.

"My dear, I'd rather not hurt you, but I need my slave back," Thanos said.

"Too bad," Sigyn said. She noticed that Thor was slowly starting to get back on his feet.

Thor, who was right behind Thanos and out of sight, threw Stormbreaker. Thanos spun around used the Space Stone to send the axe hurling towards Fenris. Fenris, who was busy in the midst of a large pile of frozen and dead alien corpses, barely noticed the axe speeding towards him. At the last second, Fenris turned back into his human form, held up his arms in the natural defensive mode, and… caught it.

"The frick?!" Fenris exclaimed in shock. The lightning from the axe was beginning to freeze as Fenris' icy powers channeled itself through the axe.

Everyone watched in awe as Fenris lifted the axe above his head in a triumphal pose. Even Thanos stopped trying to get Loki back and watched intently.

Loki used this distraction to summon his magic and aimed a bolt of pure magic at Thanos' back. The magic hit the Titan, causing him to stumble. Thanos turned on Loki with a terrifying glare.

"YOU DARE?!" Thanos took a step in Loki's direction. Fenris threw Stormbreaker before Thanos could do anything. The battle axe cut off Thanos' left arm.

Thanos screamed in pain, blood gushing out of the wound.

Peter Parker saw an opportunity and took it. He swung down from where he was chilling on the side of the castle. Bucky and Tony saw the teenager approach Thanos at the same time.

"Peter! No!" the two shouted simultaneously.

The shouts caught Thanos' attention, and he didn't notice Peter shoot a line of web at his dismembered arm and pulled the glove it off. The glove was already off and out of reach by the time Thanos noticed it was gone.

"YOU PESKY INSECT!" Thanos cursed. He advanced on the teenager.

Doctor Strange quickly said a spell and trapped Thanos in multiple orange strands of magic. Thanos struggled against the power, but it held fast.

"YOU CANNOT KILL ME!" Thanos taunted. "I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN IS WEAK AND IS TERRIFIED OF ME! YOU HAVE NO CHANCE AT WINNING SINCE I CANNOT DIE!" Thanos laughed, the sound ugly and scary.

An idea quickly popped into Hela' head. She focused her energy and teleported via shadows next to her father's side. Loki was indeed too weak to kill Thanos on her own, but what if she and the others channeled their magic and powers through him. It was risky, but Loki whispered back that he was willing to do it.

Hela placed bother her hands on Loki's shoulders and stood behind him. Wanda caught onto the idea and sent her red hex magic at Hela. The magic filtered through the Asgardian girl, and straight into Loki. The power coursed through Loki's system, awaking his own magic. Loki raised both his hands and aimed his magic at Thanos. The magic hit Thanos, but it was a ugly looking color of green and was slowly dissipating.

"We need more!" Hela commanded.

Doctor Strange lent some his energy to the two Asgardians. Sigyn steadied a shaking Loki with her hands, and sent her own magic into him.

"You can do it. I believe in you," Sigyn whispered into Loki's ear.

"If I don't make it back, just know that I love you," Loki replied.

"No," Sigyn shook her head. "You are going to make it out alive. I won't let you. If you die-"

"You'll kill me?" Loki joked. Sigyn smiled, but nevertheless, a tear rolled down her cheek.

Peter Parker handed the gauntlet over to Gamora. She gladly took it and channeled the full power of the Stones through Loki. The combined power of the Stones was slowly killing Gamora. It was too much. Nebula rushed over to her sister's side and helped support and channel the power. The energy flowed freely between the two; the sisters were shaking badly, but at least they were still alive.

Thor sprinted over to Loki and added his lightning to the mix. Tony and Rhodey fired their repulsor blasters at Thanos. Thanos was screaming from the pain, blood running down his face as the magic and power was slowly starting to tear his atoms apart.

The other heroes formed a protective circle around the ones attacking Thanos and defended them from the still very numerous amount of Outriders and Chitauri left.

The brownish-green magic was beginning to brighten up to its natural color, but Thanos was still intact.

"I need more," Loki gasped between breaths.

"Dad, no! You're going to kill yourself!" Hela protested. She could feel Loki's life-force fading away.

"It doesn't matter. I've been dead before; I can handle it," Loki said.

"Dad, if you die, your soul won't come back to Valhalla! You'll die-die!" Hela cried.

"I need more energy!" Loki snapped. Sweat was pouring down his face as the exertion tugged on his deepest store of magic.

Tears started pouring down Hela's face, but she nodded. The others dug down deep within themselves and sent more power through Hela and into Loki. Loki screamed with as the force took hold and pushed harder than he did before.

"You will never win!" Thanos shouted at Loki. His atoms were beginning to pull apart even more. Green light shone from his eyes and mouth. "You will never be a hero! You are nothing but a useless monster, stuck to do my bidding! Even with me dead, you are still under my control! I have followers; they will hunt you down and never rest until I am avenged and you are punished!"

"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close," Loki taunted with a hint of his usual, sarcastic self. "You lost your chance at winning. I know how it feels. I may never by a hero, but at least I didn't die a villain!"

With that, Thanos exploded in a burst of green light.

/\

The shockwave disintegrated the Outriders and Chitauri and knocked the heroes down.

As the light faded and the dust settled, the heroes got up one by one.

"Did we win?" Bruce, who was back to normal, asked.

"I think so," Tony replied between deep breaths. The billionaire rested his hands on his knees.

The planet was silent for a few moments, letting the past events sink in. Then, with a joyful cry, the heroes burst out cheering. Teammates hugged each other, crying tears of sadness, joy, and relief.

Steve and Bucky ran into each other's arms, and spun around for a few seconds before the two pulled each other into the tightest embrace they had ever shared. Rocket tackled Groot and hugged his friend close. Nebula and Gamora collapsed in an exhausted heap as they cried into each other's shoulders. Peter Quill wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and kissed the back of her head. The Infinity Gauntlet lay in a smoldering pile of twisted metal and green and yellow light. All except the Mind, Soul, and Time Stones were shot out into space. Peter Parker ran into Tony's arms and broke down sobbing. Mantis even kissed Drax on the cheek, shocking the warrior into silence.

The celebration was interrupted by a loud cry.

"NO!" Hela, Thor, and Sigyn shouted at the same time. The three plus Sleipnir, Jormungandr, and Fenris were huddle around Loki's unconscious body. Thor was trying to wake Loki up, but it was all in vain.

"LOKI, NO! NO, NOT AGAIN! Please, Norns, be kind and let him be alive!" Thor cried.

Sigyn passed a shaking hand over Loki's chest. "He's alive!" she exclaimed.

Hela fell to her knees and starting crying. Sleipnir knelt down and hugged his sister. Even Jormungandr let Fenris hug him.

"We need to get him to a medical room as soon as possible!" Sigyn ordered.

Thor carefully lifted Loki's limp body up. The heroes parted and let Thor board the Black Order's ship. Sigyn was following close behind.

"Everyone on board! We're heading back to Wakanda!" Steve ordered.

A few heroes cheered, but the sound was weak. Exhaustion was taking its hold on everyone. The heroes filed on board. The ship's door closed and they were off, leaving the planet Titan to suffer alone.

/\

Wakanda was much better off than Titan. The few remaining people had cleaned up and started fixing the damage. The wounded were still being attended too, but overall, everything was looking up.

Thor carried Loki straight over to the medical bay to be attended too. Sigyn made herself at home in medical bay as she quickly set everything up to take care of Loki.

Shuri jumped into T'Challa's arms once the king stepped off the ship. Shuri squealed in excitement and refused to let go. T'Challa ended up giving Shuri a piggy-back ride all the way back to her lab.

The heroes went their separate ways inside the castle. Steve ordered that they should have a meeting, so T'Challa, Tony, Steve, Peter Quill, Gamora, and Bruce met in the throne room. Thor refused to leave his brother's side. Shuri was so excited that her brother was back that she dashed into her lab and immediately set to work at rebuilding Vision. Wanda and Peter Parker watched the girl genius and even added some input.

Doctor Strange gave Hela the Soul Stone. He had placed a spell on it so it wouldn't affect the souls in Valhalla. Hela thanked him before she, her brothers, and Pietro went back to Valhalla to release all the dusted victims back into the Land of the Living.

The medical bay was surprisingly similar to the healer rooms on Asgard. Sigyn had quickly learned the different types of machines and had hooked Loki up to a heart monitor and oxygen tank. She wrapped Loki's broken wrist with bandages and healing oil. She popped Loki's knee back into its place as gently as she could. Loki flinched, but did not wake up. Sigyn placed a brace on Loki's leg to hold his knee in place.

With all that done, Sigyn could do nothing but wait. She watched Loki's chest rise and fall with every breath. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping.

Thor pulled a chair over to Loki's bed. Sigyn looked up from her own chair on the left side of Loki.

"How is he doing?" Thor asked.

"His breathing is a little forced, but otherwise he seems alright. He used a lot of his energy and strength to defeat Thanos. I don't think anyone else could manage a feat of that size and survive," Sigyn replied. She placed a hand over Loki's left and held it gently.

"Will he awaken?"

"Time will tell."

The two sat in silence for nearly an hour before Steve asked to speak with Thor. Thor looked a little upset at leaving his brother, but Sigyn assured him that she would let him know if anything happened.

Thor nodded and followed Steve out into an empty room.

"What is it, Captain?" Thor asked. He shuffled in anticipation to get back near his brother.

"Its nothing really important, but I-we came to an agreement about your brother," Steve replied.

"What about him? Sigyn said that he should wake up, even if it isn't soon," Thor said.

"No, its not about that. You do realize that Loki has many charges against him on Earth. The government officials want him dead, or at the very least, locked up," Steve explained.

"And what is your verdict on this matter?"

Steve took a deep breath. "I saw what Loki did today. All of us did. What Thanos did to him...it wasn't Loki's fault. I-we, see that Loki's attack on New York wasn't just him. For the most part, Loki is innocent, but the government will not see it the same way as us. They were not there to witness what Loki did."

"Can't you talk to them?"

Steve shook his head. "Technically I'm wanted for breaking the Sokovia Accords. Even if they got past the fact that I'm kind of wanted criminal, I highly doubt that they would be as kind to Loki. We haven't talked to the council yet, but they are not big on giving people second chances. We decided that the best thing to do is to keep your brother a secret until we think of something else."

Thor looked downcast, so Steve continued.

"The least we can do is give him a fair trial. If the court proves him innocent, then he might under house arrest or have an Avenger or some other person anointed to watch over him. But if he messes up, even if it is a small issue, they will most likely send him straight to the Raft. Loki will only get one chance. If he ruins that chance, then its over. I want to give Loki another chance, believe me, but other people won't see him the way that we do."

"I understand. I will talk to Loki if-when he wakes up," Thor said. "Thank you, Captain."

Steve smiled in response. "Tell Loki to get better."

"I will," Thor said over his shoulder as he left the room.

/\

"He's not getting better," a Wakandian nurse stated as she checked Loki's vitals. Sigyn stood next to the woman and looked over her notes.

"I thought I hooked everything up correctly," Sigyn said.

"You did," the woman replied. She was half a foot shorter than Sigyn, so she had to look up to talk the the Asgardian. "I can tell that you know a lot about medicine and health, so you should know that your boyfriend is in a coma due to overusing his magic and energy. The magic part is beyond me, but according to our technology, I'm afraid he may never awaken."

Sigyn stared sadly down at Loki. Loki's short, dark hair framed his face in an adorable fashion. He was handsome, but his face was twisted in a pained expression. Every so often, he would twitch, causing his heart rate to accelerate for a few seconds.

"Can you check again?" Sigyn asked.

"I did. Several times, but they all reach to the same conclusion. The best choice is to let him go. I know its hard, but-"

"No," Sigyn interrupted. "There is no way that I can do that to him."

"Ma'am, coma patients -"

"I know about comas."

"Then you should know that comas can last years."

"I can wait. I live much longer than humans. A few years is nothing."

"Are you sure that you want make him suffer for a few years? The only thing keeping him alive are these machines; that is no life to live. It would be better for him if you let him pass on. Its a choice between keeping him alive but suffering, or let him pass on into peace. Its your decision," the woman said gently. She left the room to let Sigyn think.

Sigyn sat down and placed a hand on Loki's cheek. His skin was unnaturally hot. Tears started forming in her violet eyes. She shook her head in disbelief.

"No, I can't do this," Sigyn muttered to herself. She wiped her eyes with her free hand and look sadly at the clock. It was almost noon. Loki had been like this for almost two days. It was hard to tell if someone was stuck in a coma this early on, but the Wakandian woman was right. Sigyn could tell that there was no chance that Loki was ever going to wake up. Her studies in magic and healing taught her that using excess amounts of magic and energy could kill the nerves and burn out the brain. Most people spontaneously combusted on sight; Loki was different. He was probably the most powerful sorcerer in the universe, but even he couldn't use excess amounts of magic without some dangerous consequences.

A jolt shook Sigyn from her thoughts. She torn her eyes away from the clock that she had been staring at for a solid three minutes and looked down at Loki. Something was different about him. The pained expression was gone. Sigyn ran a hand over his forehead. Something was off...

Sigyn stood up so quickly that she knocked over her chair. She sprinted from the room in a desperate search for Thor. She finally found him in Shuri's lab with the others. The Guardians had left earlier that day, so it was just the Avengers.

"Thor!" Sigyn shouted to get Thor's attention.

Thor spun around quickly and caught Sigyn before she ran into him.

"What's wrong? Is it Loki?" Thor questioned, worry written all over his face.

All the Avengers turned to listen in.

"Is he alright?" Steve asked.

Sigyn's face was hard to read. No one could tell whether she was upset, shocked, excited, or worried.

Sigyn switched to Old Norse to speak to Thor. It was hard to tell what the two Asgardians were saying since they spoke in a dying language, but they could make out Loki's name. Their expressions were guarded and difficult to understand. Sigyn grabbed Thor's wrist and pulled him out of the lab, and probably off to the medical bay.

"What was that all about?" Tony asked.

Steve shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm guessing its about Loki. I hope he's okay."

"Does anyone speak Asgardian?" Tony asked the group.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Its probably nothing," Bruce suggested.

"I highly doubt that," Bucky said ominously. He motioned towards the doors. Thor was back with Sigyn at his side.

Steve stood up straight from the wall and uncrossed his arms.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked the blonde Asgardian.

Thor looked down at his boots. Sigyn sniffed and cover her mouth with her hand. She turned her back to the group and stared out the window.

"There was no way that Loki was going to wake up," Thor explained. "The best thing to do was to let Loki go…"

"So?" Bruce raised an eyebrow.

Thor looked up, his eyes shining with tears. "Loki is dead."

/\

The Avengers held a funeral procession for Loki. Thor said that he wanted Loki to have an Asgardian funeral. Shuri made a small, wooden Viking ship and the heroes went down to the river for the gathering.

Loki was placed on a soft cushion on the boat. He was wearing his Asgardian armour; his arms were folded on his stomach with a dagger in hand. Flower petals were scattered around him. A lantern hung from the ship's prow.

The moon shone down on the small group of heroes. Thor and Sigyn stood at the front of the group and pushed the ship into the water. The current caught the ship and carried it downstream. Sigyn muttered a simple spell and the ship burst into flame. Green lights drifted upward into the night sky.

"Loki will be remembered as a hero," Steve muttered. "We never got to thank him for saving the universe."

"He was a good man; a good man who was misunderstood," Sigyn said. "He was a faithful boyfriend. I have never met someone so devoted to someone before. I love you."

"I am proud to call him brother," Thor said. "I'm sorry that I ever wronged you or treated you like a lesser being. I love you, Loki. You are the best little brother anyone could ask for."

"You proved us wrong, you son of a bitch. Guess this is payback, huh, Reindeer Games?" Tony joked.

The group stood in silence for a while. The flames died down in the distance.

Thanos was dead, thanks to Loki. Families would be reunited soon. The universe was safe from Thanos and the Infinity Stones.

Loki was gone, but his memory would live on forever...

 **Cliffhanger! Mwuhaha! Sorry about that... And no, this is not the end. There is one final section (It's more of a epilogue than anything else, but whatever) coming soon!**

 **So, somethings I feel like I need to explain:**

 **Pietro and Hela are dating. Pietro is dead but I felt like he could have done more in the MCU. I just imagined then as a couple, and here we are!**

 **Thanos is in love with Hela. (Based off of Thanos loving Death, with Death being Hela). It's really one sided because Thanos is a pervert.**

 **Loki has short, curly hair now. I imagined what Loki would Loki like with short, curly hair, so it's stuck in my mind now.**

 **Loki is Sleipnir's (eight-legged horse), Jormungandr's (giant serpent), Fenris' (giant wolf who can lift Thor's axe), and Hela's father. I wrote a story about Sleipnir's origin story (An Eight-Legged What?) and I plan to do Loki's three other kids.**

 **Oh, and apparently Loki might have a TV series! Yay! I'm really excited about that! If you are excited about it too, leave a review! ;) Next, and final, part coming soon!**


	4. Epilogue

**Fun Fact: The Captain Marvel trailer was awesome! I forgot to mention it last time, but it was marvelous. (Ha, ha Puns) Another Fun Fact: It's my birthday! I'm really happy cause my parents got me the Avengers Infinity War DVD. (Whoo!) I just have to prepare myself for tears when I watch it. Also, sorry about the other chapter. I got a review asking about the fix-it story. This _is_ a fix-it story, but I couldn't help myself with the cliffhanger. This really isn't a chapter, just the ending. I hope it explains everything and finishes the story on a somewhat happy note. Please review. I would to hear from you! I want to know what you think about my longest (and probably darkest. Whoops) story yet. I hope it wasn't too dark or sad, or just terrible in general.**

 **Epilogue: A New Beginning**

Two men stood side by side in the driveway of a newly built home in a small residential part of Seattle, Washington. A few trees decorated the front lawn. A cement driveway led up to the two-story, Villa-style home. The basketball hoop hung from a pole near the garage. The house had a decent-sized pool in the large backyard. There was a dining room, two master bedrooms and bathrooms, two bedrooms upstairs with two more on the main level. Two more bathrooms were located with one on each level. The living room was connected with the kitchen. Overall, it was a fairly expensive house, but it fit for a prince.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the tall, muscular blonde asked the dark-haired man. "I mean, Steve said that you might get a second chance if you got a fair trial."

"Thor, I talked with Sigyn. We decided on this together. A lot of people on Earth want me dead. Even with the Avengers backing me up, I can't risk putting my family in danger because of my actions. Its better this way. I can't use my magic, because it will attract attention, but I can handle that. Seattle is a perfect place for the kids; its winters are perfect and its not too hot in the summer. Seattle is a big enough city that we can easily blend into. Its safe for us," the dark-haired man replied. He leaned heavily on his crutches; a black knee brace was placed on his right knee.

"I don't know how you managed to talk me into this," Thor said. He was wearing a gray hoodie and blue jeans. A red baseball cap was pulled low over his eyes. Loki was wearing a dark leather jacket over his green T-shirt, a dark pair of jeans, and a green baseball cap worn backwards on top of his mass of black curls.

"They don't call me 'silver-tongue' for nothing, Thor," Loki replied.

Thor shook his head. "I guess you truly are a trickster. I don't understand how you made your death believable."

"Well, I couldn't exactly use my magic. I _was_ dying, Thor; Sigyn healed me enough to survive without the machines and whatnot. Sigyn stopped my heart long enough for your friends to believe that I died."

"We put you in that ship. How did you get out of it before it was set on fire?"

"Sleipnir opened a portal underneath me before the fire started. Sigyn started my heart back up again when I landed. I landed somewhere in Antarctica," Loki explained. "It was nice there. The snow and the ice. Fenris was rolling around in the snow. I think it was fifty below zero, but it was perfect weather. I wish I could have stayed a little longer, but Sigyn was getting cold."

"Of course Sigyn was getting cold; it negative fifty! How did you not freeze?"

"I'm a Frost Giant, remember? Fenris is part bilgesnipe and, well, part Frost Giant. We both like the cold."

"Oh, yeah," Thor muttered.

It was silent for a while until Loki spoke up.

"You're staring," Loki said. Thor noticed that he _was_ in fact staring intently at his brother, and looked away.

"Admit it, I look terrible," Loki joked.

"No, not at all. I like your haircut; it makes you look younger and more adorable," Thor replied. Loki absentmindedly removed his baseball cap and ran a hand through his thick curls.

"I'm not cute, Thor," Loki complained and put his cap back on, this time facing forward.

"You are cute too me."

Loki rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You are ridiculous, you know that?"

"Hmm, sure."

Loki turned his attention back to the house. Thor placed a hand on Loki's shoulder and squeezed gently, causing Loki to turn back.

"Are you sure you are alright? You went through some really tough situations and everything, but faking your death, again? Isn't that getting a little old?" Thor pressed.

"I admit that dying because of a coma isn't the best way to go, but its easier this way. If the Avengers believe that I'm dead, then will.. _his_ followers. The less people who know that I'm alive, the better. I cannot risk Sigyn and the kids' lives because of me. No, its better to go into hiding," Loki explained.

"You went through a lot. I mean with Thanos…" Loki flinched at the name, but Thor continued. "Hardly anyone can come back from what happened to you without some sort of lasting effects on their mind, and quite possibly, their body."

"Sigyn said that my leg should heal back to normal in a few months. I'm fine."

"I'm not talking about your knee or your wrist. I'm talking about your…" Thor dropped down to a whisper. "Your personal areas. Thanos hurt you really bad."

Loki shook Thor's hand off his shoulder. "I said I'm fine."

"I know that you are not, and you know that too. Thanos…"

"Did...that before. It's nothing new, and nothing I can't handle," Loki interrupted. His facial expression said that he wanted the conversation to be over, but Thor pressed on.

"He tortured you! For three hours straight! That has to take a toll on not only your body, but your mind! That isn't something that you can just shake off!"

"I went whole days like that, sometimes longer! What... _he_ did on Titan, it was nothing compared to _he_ did to me when I was in the Void!"

Thor's mouth dropped open. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Like Helheim I was going to tell you! You wouldn't believe me…"

"Of course I would believe you! No one goes around telling lies about being tortured for days on end! I could have helped!"

"There was no way for you to help me. _I_ was the only one who could kill... _him_. There was a prophecy about it written a long time ago. _I_ was just too terrified to stop _him_!"

"But-"

"No! I don't want to talk about this any longer. This conversation is done," Loki snapped.

Thor looked sadly at his little brother, but Loki was looking away.

"I'm sorry," Thor apologized.

"You don't need to apologize to me; you did nothing wrong," Loki muttered. "I was the one who messed up. You were just trying to get me back on the right path. I should have listened to you, but my fear left me blind. I-I'm sorry, Thor. I'm sorry for everything. If it wasn't for me, thousands of innocent people would be alive today. All of this...all of this is my fault-"

"Its your fault, its... _his_ fault, who cares?" Thor placed both hands on Loki's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "All that matters is that you are back, and there is a chance for you to live a long, happy life."

" _His_ followers will come for me. I killed their master; they will want revenge," Loki stated.

"Then we will burn that bridge when we get to it."

"It's 'cross that bridge,' you oaf." Loki corrected, but he smiled a bit.

"It doesn't matter. If anything happens, we will deal with it _together_ , like it should be. We are a team, little brother, its time that we prove the universe that. Nobody messes with _my_ family and gets away with it. Right, brother?"

"By the Norns, yes!" A grin etched itself across Loki's face. Thor smiled too.

"Good, because I'd hate to be the person to do so."

Thor pulled Loki into a hug. Loki hugged back the best he could without dropping his crutches.

The sun was setting, turning the sky orange and pink and casting a warm light onto the driveway. There was a lot of change going on. The dusted victims were being returned to the Land of the Living. The Avengers were back together again. Thanos was dead, but he still had plenty of followers who wouldn't hesitate to seek revenge for their fallen master.

Whatever the reason, Thor wouldn't let anyone hurt his brother. He may have screwed up in the past, but this time he _wouldn't_ let his little brother down.

Loki swore never to hurt anyone else again. He was done with killing others and causing pain. He had changed for the better, and he ready for his past life filled with pain and regret to end. Loki was tired of being treated like a villain; so he vowed not to mess up his second chance.

Because, for something to begin, one thing had to end. This was only a chapter in Loki's book. It was about time that he started a new one.

 **The End!**

 **(Or is it?)**

 **Yeah, that's it for now. I plan on doing a somewhat of a sequel to this called 'Snow Bros.' It's kind of a dumb title, but whatever. Before I start on that story, I'm working on one related to World War II and Bucky. (Oh Suzannah, Don' You Cry For Me) I will be posting the first chapter soon, or you can wait until I start writing Snow Bros. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this story. It turned out to be longer than I expected it to be. Thanks to everyone who left a review. I truly love hearing feedback; it makes me feel good about my writing talent even though it's not the best. Toodles for now! :)**


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